Injured Utility Worker Sues CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric
A Houston-area utility worker has filed a lawsuit against CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, after he was severely injured in a fall from a company utility pole.
On March 15, 2019, near Tomball, Texas, Garrett Wilder, an employee of electrical contractor L.E. Myers Co., went with his co-worker to the utility pole owned by CenterPoint Energy Houston to do maintenance work, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.
The lawsuit says a CenterPoint employee on the site told him to climb the 100-foot pole to install hand and foot bolts with fall protection eyelets. The contractor had climbed approximately halfway up the pole using fall protection gear when one of the handholds that was supposed to be permanently attached to the pole became separated, causing him to fall 40 feet to the ground. Upon impact, Wilder stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. He was revived by his co-worker before being taken to the hospital. After multiple surgeries to his lower extremities and back, Wilder has been transitioned to a long and arduous physical therapy regime, according to the lawsuit.
Provost Umphrey attorney Matthew Matheny is representing Wilder. “Our client has suffered severe, permanent injuries which would have cost him his life if it had not been for the swift action of his fellow employee,” he said.
Wilder is seeking in excess of $1 million in damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, lost wages, disfigurement, physical impairment and future medical bills. He is also asking for punitive damages. The lawsuit is Garrett Wilder vs. CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC in the 269th District Court, Harris County, Texas.
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, is owned by Utility Holding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
