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    Connecticut Man Wins $2 Million Suit After 2019 Electric Shock Incident

    Nov. 25, 2024
    The man was working a water line replacement project when he suffered electric shock from an incorrectly marked underground cable.
    ID 28478574 © Peuceta | Dreamstime.com
    Connecticut man wins $2 Million Suit against contractor for electrocution incident

    By: Jesse Leavenworth

    Source: The News-Times, Danbury, Conn.

    A Connecticut man who sued Eversource after he suffered an electric shock due to an incorrectly marked underground cable has won a $2 million jury award, his lawyer said Friday.

    Terryville resident Keven Shepard, 56, suffered nerve damage and other injuries in the 2019 incident and cannot return to work as a construction laborer, attorney John J. Houlihan Jr. said.

    The six-member jury made its decision Wednesday after a trial in state Superior Court in Waterbury.

    "He's just a good fellow and he got a fair result and he should be proud of himself," said Houlihan, of the RisCassi and Davis law firm.

    "We’re disappointed with the verdict in light of the facts of the case and are reviewing our options at this time," Jamie Ratliff, a spokesperson for Eversource, said in a statement.

    On the morning of June 18, 2019, Shepard was working on a water line replacement project in Naugatuck for Terryville-based Infrastructors. He was in a 3½-foot deep ditch when an excavator operator working nearby hit a wire carrying 13,800 volts, Houlihan said. The location of the power cable was erroneously marked at 7 feet, 8 inches away from the spot where the excavator bucket hit it, according to the lawsuit. Shepard could have been killed, Houlihan said, but the majority of the current found other pathways back to the source.

    Shepard, a Bristol native, contended that Connecticut Light & Power, doing business as Eversource, was negligent in failing to adequately mark the power cable's location. The father of two, who now walks with a cane, has suffered injuries that included decreased range of motion in his hips and knees, nausea, headaches and "great pain and anguish," the complaint said.

    Shepard also suffered severe depression, according to the suit, and Houlihan said his client continues to get counseling. He said Shepard will use the money "to get back on his feet and replace some of the lost income."

    (c)2024 The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.)

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