Man Claims Power Company Is Liable For Electrocution

A man has filed a personal injury suit against a power company, alleging that the company is liable for the injuries he suffered when a ladder he was using came into contact with overhead wires.

According to the suit filed against American Electric Power by Jonathan West on July 31 in West Virginia’s Kanawha Circuit Court, AEP owed him a duty to better insulate power lines to prevent electrocution.

Court records say that on July 31, 2007, West was cleaning a building’s gutters. When he moved the ladder from one section of a building to another, it neared or came into contact with the overhead power lines.

West claims that because of the lines’ age, they lacked proper insulation, resulting in a does of high voltage electricity passing through the ladder and into his body. He suit does not specify the extent of the injuries he suffered, but he says the shock caused him to suffered “enormous physical and mental injuries.”

West seeks unspecified damages.