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| | Edison Hit with $21 Million Penalty in Avocado-Picking Mishap By John Millrany - July 16, 2001Stating that he doesn’t “fit the image of a typical avocado
picker,” a 33-year-old Whittier man has been awarded a $21 million judgment as
the result of a Southern California Edison power-pole accident
resulting in amputation of both his arms.
The award followed a jury verdict July 13 that found Edison 80% responsible for
the accident that occurred when Allen Kimball’s aluminum pole hit a
12,000-vole power line in a Hacienda Heights avocado grove. According to his
attorney, Christine Spagnoli, Edison was at fault for not properly
trimming the avocado tree and obscuring power lines hanging above it.
Edison officials, who are looking at an appeal possibility, maintained that the
utility shouldn’t be held responsible for a picker using an aluminum pole
device.
“I hope this verdict,” which followed a 4-week trial,
“forces Edison, in the future, to act responsibly so this type of accident will
never happen to another person,” Kimball said. “We don’t hear about a lot of
accidents like this, because immigrant laborers are involved and they don’t get
much attention.
“That’s why I wanted to speak out. I don’t fit the average
image of the typical avocado picker.”
True enough. In fact, Kimball, who worked the avocado groves
to earn extra money while attending a community college, has since his
amputations competed in the Los Angeles Marathon and, with the help of an
occupational therapist intern he met in rehabilitation, has climbed Half Dome
in Yosemite National Park.
Kimball, who expects to graduate next winter with a college
degree, uses his big toes to type on the computer.
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