Mr. M worked for a utility company and responded to a gas leak at an apartment complex. While he and his crew members were in the process of fixing the leak, one of the apartment buildings exploded. He suffered second and third-degree burns to his face, neck and hand. The force of the explosion threw him to the ground, tearing a ligament in his wrist. He had to undergo several rounds of surgery and months of physical therapy and missed over a year of work. His medical bills and lost wages were over $200,000.
Michael investigated, filed a lawsuit, proved that the gas leak was caused by a company that violated Georgia’s “Call Before You Dig” law and secured a confidential settlement for Mr. M.
Georgia’s “Call Before You Dig” Laws
The Georgia Utility Facility Protection Act requires companies to call before they dig around an area that has or might have an underground utility line. Under these regulations, a company should contact Georgia 811 – also called the Utilities Protection Center – before excavating a site using mechanized equipment.
The company performing the excavations is supposed to submit a “locate” request to Georgia 811 for each building or location where they are working. Georgia 811 then asks utility companies such as gas companies, power companies and water companies to “mark” the location of any underground utility lines. The utility companies “mark” the utilities with paint or flags. In practice, utility companies often hire “locate companies” to locate and mark the utilities for them. Each type of utility has a specific color paint or flag that goes with it:
Before starting to dig/excavate, the company is supposed to call Georgia 811 to verify that the area has been marked by all utility companies.
Companies that violate this important safety regulation endanger the lives of workers and residents around the excavation sites. Georgia considers this such an important safety regulation that if a company does not follow the “call before you dig” law, Georgia law holds them responsible for any injuries or property damage that they cause.
The Excavation Project and Failure to Call
The defendant company was hired to do excavation work for a construction project in a large apartment complex. The apartment complex had multiple buildings and the defendant was responsible for excavating around some buildings while another company was responsible for excavating around others. There was miscommunication and confusion about which company was responsible for submitting locate requests for which building. As a result, a locate request to mark underground utilities was not submitted for one apartment building and the utilities at that building were not marked. Then, the defendant company did not call Georgia 811 before beginning excavation work around that building. As a result, the defendant company’s workers hit a gas line and caused a gas leak.
Mr. M and his co-workers responded to the scene and began shutting off the gas line. Unbeknownst to them, gas was seeping into the apartment building and slowly filling it with gas. When the building’s furnace turned on, it ignited the gas and the building exploded.
The Consequences of the Accident on Mr. M and His Family
Mr. M saw the building explode and flames enveloped him. The force of the explosion threw him back and onto the ground. He landed awkwardly on his left hand, breaking his wrist and tearing a ligament. He felt like he was on fire and his face, hair and hand were extremely hot and painful. He thought his hand had been blown off due to the pain. His burning hair smelled awful. The explosion burned a hole through Mr. M’s protective gloves. He took them off and saw that his hands were burned and that the skin was basically falling off.
Mr. M spent several days in the burn unit in the hospital to address his injuries. Nurses had to peel off the damaged skin and scrub his wounds multiple times each day. Because he did not have a protective layer of skin over the exposed tissue on his hands and face, Mr. M had to endure acute and constant pain triggered by something even as slight as a light breeze. This happened shortly before Christmas and Mr. M missed Christmas with his young son because he did not want his appearance and injuries to scare his son. Mr. M underwent several rounds of surgery and months of physical therapy to fix the fractures and broken ligament in his wrist. While he has regained some function in his wrist, he still experiences pain and discomfort, especially after a long day at work.
While Mr. M has returned to work, he continues to deal with the fear and anxiety associated with the explosion. He has responded to several calls involving gas leaks where his fear and anxiety became overwhelming and required him to leave the scene. He became short of breath, felt like he was on fire again and could even smell the smoke and smell of his hair burning. He worries that because of his fear and anxiety he cannot do his job effectively.
What We Did to Help
We filed a lawsuit against the defendant company. We took multiple depositions of the defendant’s employees as well as other witnesses. We reviewed hundreds of pages of records and construction plans and documents from Georgia 811 to determine what happened. We questioned the owner of the defendant company about its failure to call Georgia 811 and he testified as follows:
Q: If you called Georgia 811, found that the building had not been located, would you have
excavated that day?
A: Oh, absolutely not.
Given this, the defendant was “strictly liable” for Mr. M’s injuries. Before the case went to trial, we reached a confidential settlement with the defendant company that fairly compensated Mr. M for his injuries. We’re glad we could help him and wish him the best in his continued recovery.