Dominion, Comporium pay $30 million in death of SC teacher killed by rotting utility pole

In an out-of-court settlement, Dominion Energy and Comporium telecom company have agreed to pay $30 million to the estate of a 31-year-old Aiken County school teacher killed by the collapse of a rotting utility pole on a public street in downtown Wagener last year.

The settlement in the wrongful death case was announced Thursday afternoon by state Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, who represented the family of Jeunelle Robinson, a teacher at Wagener-Salley High School at the time of her death last Aug. 23. She taught history and life lessons to 9th- and 10th-grade students.

She was killed on her lunch break while walking downtown when a passing truck snagged a low-slung line on a utility pole that was “hanging dangerously low over Main Street,” according to a complaint in the case filed in Aiken County state court.

“The utility pole that struck Ms. Robinson was at least 70 years old and collided with her head with bone shattering force as she attempted to avoid it,” the complaint said. She died of blunt force trauma.

Robinson’s death was “completely avoidable” if the defendants had exercised slight care instead of being motivated to make such large profits, the complaint said. Both companies “benefited financially” from not keeping the utility poles in downtown Wagener in a safe condition, the complaint said.

Dominion, asked for comment about the case and whether it was fixing old unsafe equipment, emailed this response, “Dominion Energy again extends our deepest condolences to the family of Jeunelle Robinson, and we are pleased to help bring resolution to this case.”

In an email, Comporium’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, Matthew Dosch, said, “Our prayers have been with the family of Ms. Robinson and the many lives she touched since this accident occurred. We at Comporium are glad to be able to resolve this matter with the family at this time.”

Comporium officials did not reply to a question from The State about whether it was fixing old unsafe equipment.

The company, based in Rock Hill, provides digital video, internet, phone and home security monitoring services to customers in South Carolina and North Carolina. It is the 22nd largest broadband provider in America, as well as the 13th largest telecom provider and 22nd largest cable television provider in the country, the lawsuit said.

About a month before Robinson’s death, the town clerk of Wagener, a town of some 650 people, had emailed Dominion asking about the low wires and poles.

“The poles are leaning and the wires are hanging some.... Please have someone check it out,” the clerk wrote on July 10, 2023..

Dominion replied that the wires and poles were the responsibility of either telephone or cable TV companies, according to the lawsuit, which alleged that Dominion did, in fact, have responsibility for the poles.

“Both Dominion and Comporium owned, operated, were responsible for maintaining, inspecting, and replacing, or otherwise utilized rotted utility poles owned by one of them or both of them jointly in Wagener for the mutual and joint benefit of both Dominion and Comporium’s business ventures,” the complaint said. “This includes the rotted pole that killed Ms. Robinson.”

Judge keeps legal fees secret

Although court proceedings in South Carolina are supposed to be public, State Judge Courtney Clyburn Pope sealed a petition to approve the settlement and a related order, according to a filing Thursday in Aiken County state court.

In a two-page order, the judge wrote that although she was “mindful of our state’s public policy favoring the transparency of court proceedings,” she was keeping secret various settlement documents, which include disbursement figures, because Robinson’s “heirs may be prejudiced or harassed.”

The secrecy also extends to the fees that Robinson’s family lawyers — Bamberg and Adam Ness — will get paid out of the settlement, according to a court record. Plaintiff’s lawyers typically can get one-third to 40% or more in fees in big settlements in wrongful death cases.

Veteran media lawyer Jay Bender of Columbia said Friday that while there may be justification to keep secret individual payouts to Robinson’s heirs, he could find no legal basis for a judge to keep secret lawyers’ fees in this case, especially in a matter of such high public interest.

“There’s no justification for concealing the fees lawyers got,” Bender said.

“Disclosure of that information is in the public interest because it discloses how much it costs to bring such an action, and it assures the public that the clients are being treated fairly,” Bender said, citing the recent high profile case of Alex Murdaugh, a former South Carolina lawyer who used the secrecy surrounding his fees to steal millions from clients and his law firm.

Pope did sign an order revealing the total settlement to be $30 million, according to a document filed Thursday in Aiken County state court. That order said if the case had gone to trial, the outcome would have been uncertain.

According to Bamberg, the Robinson family chose to settle with the companies as the one-year anniversary of their daughter’s death approached in an effort to honor her memory and finally have closure.

“Although nothing can bring Jeunelle back to her family, we are pleased to have reached this resolution with the parties involved,” said Bamberg. “We appreciate the leadership of Dominion and Comporium for working with us to ensure Jeunelle’s family would not have to relive this tragedy in court unnecessarily.

“We are focused on protecting rural areas that are often overlooked by utility and power companies around the country, and we hope that this tragic situation will result in greater attention being focused on repairing and maintaining poles in America’s rural areas,” Bamberg said.

Dominion, one of the state’s largest energy providers, has approximately 782,000 electric customers in South Carolina and sells natural gas to approximately 435,000 customers in the state, the lawsuit said.