Myrtle Beach
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A South Carolina appeals court upheld a $20 million verdict over the drowning death of a man who struggled for 10-15 minutes in the water in front of a lifeguard station that was unoccupied because the guard was at lunch.
The verdict, including $7 million in punitive damages, is justified because the lifeguard company violated professional standards by making its guards engage in other tasks like renting chairs and cleaning the beach, the South Carolina Court of Appeals said in a July 16 decision. There was also evidence lifeguards may not have completed a mandatory 40 hours of training before going on the job, the court ruled.
Meswaet Abel sued Lack’s Beach Service after her fiancé Zerihun Wolde drowned at Myrtle Beach in August 2018. Wolde waded into the water with two of their children but was sucked into deeper water until it was up to his neck.
He began yelling for help but had drifted down in front of the unoccupied life station. Bystanders attempted to rescue him but were too late; Wolde was unconscious and declared dead at the hospital.
A jury awarded Abel $20 million in damages after hearing from experts including an official with the U.S. Lifesaving Association who said USLA revoked Lack’s certification for employing its guards in dual roles as lifeguards and rental agents. The jury also heard about a 2002 workers’ compensation case in which Lack’s argued its guards spent virtually all their time on concession duties instead of as lifeguards.
Lack’s appealed, saying the jury heard inadmissible evidence and Abel failed to prove it was the cause of Wolde’s death. The company also said the dual role of its lifeguards was spelled out in the contract with Myrtle Beach and allowed under South Carolina law.
The appeals court rejected those arguments and upheld the verdict. Lack’s argued the verdict was excessive, especially since Wolde’s “pre-drowning struggles” weren’t compensable under state law that bars damages for “pre-impact fear.”
“Lack's argument, somewhat confusingly, seems to imply that a person is not actively drowning unless they are unconscious or no longer resurfacing,” Judge Matthew Turner wrote. “Although we could not locate any South Carolina cases directly on point, common sense dictates that the struggle to `escape the drowning’ is, in fact, part of the active drowning process.”
The court also said punitive damages were merited, given the evidence.
“We find there was plentiful evidence that Lack's repeatedly and knowingly breached the standard of care for professional lifeguards in multiple ways; thus, we find there was sufficient evidence to submit the issue of punitive damages to the jury,” the court concluded.
The verdict may be hard to collect, however. Lack’s said it has $3 million total insurance and a negative net worth of $473,000.
Lack’s was represented by Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, Hall Booth Smith and
Whelan Mellen & Norris. The plaintiffs were represented by McLeod Law Group, Smith Robinson Holler DuBose Morgan and Pracht Injury Lawyers.
