Trench Collapse Kills Construction Worker; Jury Awards $3.85 Million Against General Contractor

Kirk Mitcham, 46, was working a residential construction job in Union County when his employer lowered him into a 12-foot-deep trench on the bucket of an excavator so he could locate a buried sewer pipe. The moment he stepped off the bucket, a wall of the trench gave way and buried him. He died at the scene.

Mitcham left behind a son, two granddaughters, and two stepchildren. The case that followed centered not on the subcontractor who dug the trench but on the general contractor above them: BB Carolina Holdings, LLC, doing business as Bonterra Builders.

Jon Moore of Brown Moore and Associates, working alongside co-counsel Sam McGee of Tin Fulton Walker and Owen, argued that Bonterra had knowingly retained an unqualified subcontractor to perform what the law classifies as 'inherently dangerous' work, then abandoned the site while Mitcham and his crew began digging. When a principal hires out hazardous excavation work to someone lacking the competence to do it safely, North Carolina law holds the principal responsible for the consequences.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the grading subcontractor for improper trench construction but took no action against Bonterra directly. Moore and McGee argued that the absence of a federal citation against Bonterra did not relieve it of civil liability for gross negligence.

The defense offered $175,000 before trial and raised that figure to $1.5 million just before closing arguments on damages. The jury rejected both figures. On March 7, 2018, the panel returned a compensatory verdict of $3.85 million. The case settled for a confidential amount before the punitive damages phase was tried.