Former Trench Worker Files Suit for Injuries from Power-Line Accident

ALAMEDA — Construction worker Jeptha Anderson McGee filed a lawsuit on June 21 in Alameda Superior Court against the city of Alameda and the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority.

He alleges that on July 15, 2003, as a consequence of the negligent conduct of the defendants' employees and agents, he hit an underground energized electrical line while using a drill at the Alameda Point construction site (formerly the Naval Air Station, Alameda) causing him to sustain severe electrical injuries. He seeks unspecified general and special damages.

The deputy city attorney for Alameda, Donna Mooney, said that the city disputes liability in the case. She said Alameda has not yet been served with the lawsuit and that it will not discuss details of ongoing litigation.

McGee, then 26, was working as a laborer for Stockton-based Charles B. Sanford Construction and Electrical Co., which had been hired as a subcontractor by Mobile Modular Management Corp. to help install modular buildings near the 600 block of West Ranger in Alameda.

On July 15, 2003, several Alameda Power and Telecom employees were present at the site where trenching and digging were being carried out by employees of Sanford Construction. According to a statement released by McGee's attorneys, Bruce A. Broillet and Christine D. Spagnoli of Santa Monica-based Greene, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler, Alameda Power was there specifically to protect construction workers, the public and the city's electrical systems and equipment from any damage as a result of the construction activities and to identify the locations of underground electric utilities. The statement also said Alameda Power employees were on site to identify appropriate locations to dig trenches and to drill both to protect the public and the construction workers and to avoid the risk of injury from inadvertent contact with any underground electrical lines and equipment.

McGee's attorneys allege that although Alameda Power employees were aware of the location of underground energized electrical lines and were observing the trenching and drilling, they failed to warn or advise McGee and his co-workers that they were working in a potentially dangerous area or they failed to de-energize the electrical equipment and lines.

Instead, according to McGee's attorneys, the construction crew was affirmatively told that they were drilling in a safe location. They said that neither McGee nor his co-workers were aware that they were trenching and drilling near energized underground utilities.

McGee was working in a trench when a drill that he was operating hit an underground energized electrical line while Alameda Power and Telecom employees were standing nearby, observing the operations. McGee suffered extensive physical injuries, including amputation of his left arm, lower right leg, and transtibial amputation of his left foot. He suffered third-degree electrical burns over approximately 20 percent of his body, requiring skin grafting. He suffered a brain injury and was in a coma for a 17 days. He continues to have neurological deficits, including impaired attention, orientation, visual-perceptual difficulties and cognitive motor problems. As a result of the injuries that he sustained in the accident, McGee has been rendered incompetent. His father, Dan L. McGee, is acting as his guardian ad litem.

"My son will never be the same again," said the elder McGee. "What happened to him was crushing. Life goes on and we will do the best that we can for Jeptha. But, it is only right that the city of Alameda step up to the plate and accept responsibility for what occurred. We hope and pray that by that by filing this lawsuit that others will take heed and not repeat the egregious mistake made by the city of Alameda."

An official with the city, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that McGee's "lawyers are engaged in a publicity stunt where they launch their first salvo in the media" rather than working through normal legal channels.

As a department of the city of Alameda, Alameda Power and Telecom is controlled by the city's Public Utility Board and provides electrical and telecommunications services to the city, including service to the Naval Air Station, Alameda. ARRA is a municipal governing body comprised of the city of Alameda's mayor and city council members. It was established to negotiate the conveyance of NAS Alameda's property from the United States Navy to the city of Alameda, and to oversee the conversion and redevelopment of the former base into a mixed-use development, now called the Alameda Point.

Jeptha McGee now lives with his family in Murrietta.

"The City of Alameda played Russian roulette with Jeptha McGee's life," said Bruce A. Broillet.

"It bears the responsibility for his injuries because the Alameda Power and Telecom employees did not do the job that they were there to do. The APT failed to advise the crews of the presence of underground electrical lines and, instead, affirmatively told them that they were digging in a safe area.

"Our client has lost his basic right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and we will see to it that he has his day in court."

Mooney said, "This was a tragic accident, and our hearts go out to Mr. McGee and his friends."