By Sara Strong
The City of Luverne has been named in two lawsuits involving electric accidents in 2001.
The first was filed by Fulda Electric regarding an electric accident that injured Phillip Kramer Dec. 3, 2001.
The company is suing the city, because it says it’s had to pay increased workers’ compensation coverage and will continue to do so in the future.
Fulda Electric is suing for "an amount in excess of $50,000 together with interest, costs and disbursements as allowed by law."
The city is also facing a lawsuit by the heirs of Brad Herr, the man who died after an electric shock and fall while working in Luverne.
This suit was filed in U.S. District Court, because the accident occurred in Minnesota, Herr was a resident of South Dakota and the family resides in Iowa. In addition, the amount the heirs are suing for exceeds $75,000.
Herr’s accident occurred Oct. 20, 2001, when he was working for RCH Cable Sales Company of the Midwest. He was installing equipment for digital cable Mediacom, which the lawsuit said Luverne hired to do the work.
Herr was working on a pole near the National Guard Armory on Freeman Avenue and "came into contact with a ground wire that was not connected to a suitable grounding electrode."
The lawsuit calls to attention a prior incident on the same power pole that occurred Sept. 28, 2001, and charges that the city did not take proper measures to remedy the line, and further, that the city work done by employees of the city was "substandard, negligent and dangerous."
The heirs and the next of kin of Herr say through the suit that they have "sustained damages, including funeral expenses, loss of society, companionship, affection, support and other pecuniary loss."
The plaintiff is asking for a judgment against the city of Luverne for "a reasonable excess of $70,000, together with interest, costs and disbursements as allowed by law. Plaintiff also demands a trial by jury."
The Dec. 3 incident, in which Kramer lost his left hand and part of his forearm, prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to fine the city $56,000.
The city is trying to appeal those fines, which were given with the designation of "willful" violations.