Jury Awards $2 Million After Eversource Power Line Electrocutes Construction Worker in Naugatuck Trench

On the morning of June 18, 2019, Keven Shepard was working in a trench at 133 Morning Dove Road in Naugatuck, Connecticut, as part of a water line replacement crew. At 8:04 a.m., an excavator bucket struck a primary power line buried in the ground. The line was not where Eversource said it was. According to evidence presented at trial, the cable sat 7 feet and 8 inches from its marked location.

The current passed through Shepard. He suffered tetany, a condition in which the muscles contract involuntarily and cannot release, along with muscle spasms, nerve damage, and spinal stenosis. At 56 years old at the time of trial, Shepard could no longer work as a construction laborer, the trade he had built his livelihood around for decades.

John J. Houlihan Jr. of RisCassi and Davis brought the case to Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury. The trial centered on whether Eversource had met its obligations under Connecticut utility marking statutes. The evidence showed the company maintained inaccurate underground utility records and failed to provide required on-site safety assistance before excavation began. The defense argued Shepard bore some responsibility for the accident. The jury disagreed.

Judge Kimberly Massicotte presided. After deliberation, the six-member jury found Eversource entirely at fault, assigning Shepard zero percent comparative negligence. The panel awarded $500,000 for past non-economic damages and $1.5 million for future non-economic damages, reaching a total of $2 million. No remittitur was reported.

The verdict was reported by the Connecticut Law Tribune on November 22, 2024.