Myrtle Beach lifeguard company agrees to $1 million payout in wake of 2020 drowning

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — A Myrtle Beach-based lifeguard company on Friday agreed to pay $1 million to the family of a Jacksonville man who drowned in 2020 .

Horry County Common Pleas Court Judge William Seals Jr. presided over a Sept. 19 hearing where Core Specialty Group, the insurance provider for John’s Beach Service, agreed to the terms, documents show.

Franklin Morris, 52, was pronounced dead at the Grand Medical Center on June 19, 2020. He was swimming near 16th Ave. N and got caught up in rip currents.

Morris’ wife, Phalda, filed a wrongful death suit in June 2023. He left behind two children.

Morris entered the water at an area where a lifeguard was supposed to be posted. At the time, John’s Beach Service was operating under a franchise agreement that had its guards splitting duties between watching swimmers and managing equipment rentals.

The so-called “dual role lifeguarding” policy — which was so unsafe the U.S. Lifesaving Association refuses to certify any agency that uses it — was to blame for Franklin’s death, according to the lawsuit.

“Dual role lifeguarding sacrifices public safety in exchange for money,” the complaint states.

Morris’ swim came amid a National Weather Service warning about dangerous rip currents, and the lawsuit says no lifeguard informed him of that or tried to stop him or his son from going into the ocean.

City leaders on Tuesday are likely to extend franchise agreements with John’s and Lack’s Beach Service through 2031, with amendments separating rental and guard duties.

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12 . See more of his work here .

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