A Cheviot Hills homeowners association is seeking dismissal as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 6-year-old boy whose father was electrocuted while working as a foliage trimmer in 2023, contending that its members had no control over the separate property where the fatal injury occurred.
Along with the Cheviot Hills Homeowners’ Assn., the other defendants in the Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and All-In-One Landscaping Corp. The suit alleges negligence and dangerous condition of public property in the death of 33-year-old Noel Gonzalez Sixtos, who was trimming hedges when he was killed on Nov. 21, 2023.
Sixtos was working in the 10300 block of West Glenbarr Avenue, where the HOA had jurisdiction and an obligation to clear away overgrown foliage that concealed power lines, the suit filed in September 2024 states.
But according to court papers filed Wednesday with Judge Bradley S. Phillips by the HOA attorneys in advance of a June 10 hearing, the accident occurred in the rear yard of property owned by Ira and Helen Katz. Although the Katz Property is within the homeowners association’s boundaries, the HOA has no say regarding their property, according to the association lawyers’ court papers.
“CHHOA’s bylaws do not grant CHHOA control or authority over members or residents’ homes,” the HOA attorneys further state in their pleadings. Their argument was backed up by a sworn declaration by CHHOA President Robert Keehn.
“Cheviot Hills HOA does not have authority or power of enforcement over any homeowner in the community,” Keehn says.
All-In-One Landscaping had assigned Sixtos to work on the Katz property and supervised his work, according to the HOA lawyers’ pleadings. Sixtos’ trimming device struck a DWP power line and the man was electrocuted, the HOA lawyers further state in their court papers.
The CHHOA was unaware of the location of the power lines over the Katz property, their attorneys contend in their court papers. CHHOA is not liable for the death of Sixtos and is therefore entitled to judgment in its favor, their lawyers argue.
Foliage disguised some of the high-voltage power lines, according to the lawsuit, which also contends that the DWP’s alleged failure to properly operate and maintain the electrical power lines was a factor in Sixtos’ death.