The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

January 16, 2008

Beckley is hit with two lawsuits in the same day

Matthew Hill

The city of Beckley was confronted with two lawsuits in the same day, with the plaintiffs in each case seeking a jury trial and no less than $300,000 in damages, according to documents filed Tuesday in the Raleigh County circuit clerk’s office.

Andrea Erskine, an Oak Hill resident, is represented by Lewisburg attorney Steven Hunter. According to Erskine’s complaint, she and Randall Erskine were driving north on South Fayette Street in Beckley on May 30, 2006, when a city dump truck “heavily laden with hot asphalt” crossed the center line of the street and struck Erskine’s 2004 Toyota 4-Runner head-on.

The Toyota was purportedly “shoved and crushed with great force” into an embankment. The lawsuit contends that Ernest Oliver Dillard, a city employee and driver of the truck, was cited by Beckley police for failure to maintain control. His alleged crossing of the center line was illegal, negligent and careless, Hunter argues.

Due to the accident, Erskine states that she has suffered from various injuries, strains and sprains. Since the accident, Erskine maintains, she has experienced “severe headaches, neck pain, mid-back pain and dizziness,” among other health problems.

She is asking for $300,000 in damages. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick.

The other suit was filed by Beckley attorney John Wooton on behalf of four plaintiffs — Jason Golden, Emily Golden, Gracie Golden and Noah Shrewsbury. Each plaintiff is requesting $100,000 in damages from the city. With the exception of Shrewsbury, a Beckley resident, the other plaintiffs hail from Wichita, Kan.

According to Wooton’s complaint, the city “failed to take steps to either make the area safe or warn the plaintiffs and others of the dangerous conditions” at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. Such factors, Wooton said, “caused the transport car to crash into the access door, causing the plaintiffs to suffer the injuries and damages herein described.”

Shrewsbury has reportedly suffered from injuries to his head, hand and back, along with “great emotional distress and mental anguish, physical pain and suffering, annoyance and inconvenience,” the suit alleges. The three Goldens are also said to have endured various bodily injuries.

That case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Robert Burnside.

— E-mail:

mhill@register-herald.com





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