Painter Electrocution

Newtown, CT: (Nov-01-07) The estate of Ivan Patricio Tenecela, a painter who was electrocuted while at work at the municipally-owned Newtown Meeting House, brought a civil lawsuit against the town. The suit stated that on July 26, 2004, an aluminum ladder made contact with an 8,000-volt power line on the south side of the meeting house, killing Tenecela, 25, of Port Chester, NY, from accidental electrocution. Victor Saquisela, then age 21, also of Port Chester, was seriously burned. Both Tenecela and Saquisela were originally from Ecuador. The suit alleged that the town was negligent in Tenecela's death as it failed to inspect the premises to discover that Campbell Quality Painting, LLC's working conditions were dangerous. The town also failed to warn Tenecela about those dangerous conditions when it hired Campbell without making inquiries into its safety record or safety practices. Investigations showed that Campbell Quality Painting had three serious violations of the US Occupational Safety and Health Act.

As part of a settlement reached, Hartford Insurance Company, which was the insurer for all three defendants in the case paid out $300,000 to resolve the lawsuit. In the settlement, Campbell Quality Painting, LLC, of Weston was assessed $275,000 in damages; the Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown, Inc was assessed $25,000 in damages, and the Town of Newtown had no assessed damages. [NEWTOWN BEE: PAINTER ELECTROCUTION]

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Published on Nov-3-07