Electrocuted Trucker's Family Files Suit

The family of a truck driver who died of the personal injuries he sustained by being electrocuted while working has filed a wrongful death suit.

According to the suit filed by Keena Johnson in Illinois’ St. Clair County Circuit Court on January 6, Brian Johnson was driving a tractor-trailer en route to delivering cattle feed to Reno farms on September 12, 2007 when his trailer came into contact with a power line.

Keena Johnson claims that because of the death of Brian Johnson, his next of kin have suffered a loss of society, companionship, support, love, and affection.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of M.J.M. Electric Cooperative, the owner of the power lines, for failure to properly maintain the power line despite being aware of the hazard, failure to conduct proper maintenance to its reclosures protecting the power line, and failure to warn of the power line’s presence. The company is also negligent for failure to suspend the line at the proper height.

The suit also alleges negligence on the part of Fletcher-Reinhardt Service Company, the business which rebuilt the circuit reclosure for the power line and was responsible for its maintenance, for defectively designing and rebuilding by failing to de-energize the power line upon inadvertent contact. It was also negligent for the failure to conduct proper maintenance of the reclosure, which failed to de-energize the line it governed upon inadvertent contact.

The suit also alleges negligence on the part of Cooper Power Systems, the manufacturer of the circuit reclosure, for a design and manufacture that failed to de-energize the power line upon inadvertent contact.

Keena Johnson seeks damages in excess of $250,000, plus costs, from the five-count suit.