A wrongful death lawsuit resulting from a fall through the roof of a building at Georgia Pacific has settled out of court.
The lawsuit stemmed from an incident that occurred April 18, 2002, when Scott White of Columbia was working for a contractor hired to remove and replace a portion of the roof on an old building at Georgia Pacific in Cedar Springs, Ga.
White was working on the roof when he fell through a piece of tin and was killed.
White’s widow, Ceceilia, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on June 14, 2002, against Georgia Pacific and the Dothan contractor, IM and MC LLC.
The contractor was removed as a defendant in Houston County Circuit Court, but Georgia Pacific remained as a defendant and the case continued.
White argued that Georgia Pacific was at least partially responsible for her husband’s death because it did not follow its own safety procedures dealing with workers on roofs and working conditions.
The building was used as a storage facility and Georgia Pacific hired the contractor to remove and replace about 8,000 square feet of the roof. The company had been working on the roof four days when the accident occurred. It was Scott White’s first day on the roof. He fell through an old tin sheet.
Georgia Pacific argued the contractor was responsible for the safety of its workers.
The case went into mediation last month in Dothan and was settled shortly thereafter. Terms of the settlement were confidential.
“Mrs. White is certainly satisfied by having closure,” said Julia Beasley of the firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis, and Miles of Montgomery. “Their own safety rules require fall protection measures. This was certainly a tragedy that could have been avoided.”
A call to Georgia Pacific attorney Alan Hargrove was not returned.
