The father of an electrical worker electrocuted in an underground vault in Huntington Beach in 2013 filed a wrongful death suit today against Southern California Edison.
Plaintiff Hector Orozco’s 28-year-old son, Brandon Orozco of Whittier, died Sept. 30, 2013, when electricity suddenly began flowing through the vault he was working on as part of a five-person crew, authorities said previously.
An Edison spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit and said Brandon Orozco was employed by a third party, CAM Contractors Inc.
However, the lawsuit states that although Brandon Orozco was an apprentice lineman assigned to CAM Contractors, Edison had hired the company to work on high-voltage electrical power lines at the electrical apparatus on Tisbury Circle.
Rosemead-based Edison negligently maintained the vault by failing to shut off the power before allowing Orozco to work in the vault, the suit alleges. The utility also should have had an employee at the site to supervise his work, the suit states.
“The deplorable condition of the underground electrical vault … was hazardous and in violation of existing laws, regulatory provisions and/or the standards in the industry,” the suit states.
— City News Service