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Date: 02-24-2023
Case Style:
Estate of Carol Ross v. Xcel Energy Services, Inc., et al.
Case Number:
Judge:
Court: District Court, Denver County, Colorado
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Not Available
Description: Denver, Colorado personal injury lawyer represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendant on a wrongful death negligence theory.
The family and estate of Carol Ross, age 82, sued public utility company Xcel Energy on a negligence theory claiming that a backhoe operator negligence damaged a natural gas line owned by Xcel Energy in 2018 with the result a gas line was damaged and began to leak, which ultimately exploded killing Mrs. Ross and injuring others. A contractor working for Comcast was installing a fiber optic cable at the time.
Heather Gardens, where Mrs. Ross live, contracted with Comcast, which contracted with Integrated Communication Service (ICS) for excavation and drilling work, which subcontracted with Bohrenworks, which subtracted with Underground Communications.
Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $31.8 million. The jury determined Xcel’s portion of the responsibility was 12%, or $3.8 million. Other Defendants settled before trial.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: “Our thoughts continue to be with the impacted families. This was a tragic and preventable incident. An investigation found that we didn't commit any violations, and we are considering our next steps. We continue to urge contractors to follow state and federal law by calling 811,” the statement read.