Damages Awarded in Electrocution Case

The parents of a man electrocuted in 1993 while working on a 480-volt electrical system at a local rock-crushing plant have been awarded $1.25 million by a Superior Court jury.

On Wednesday, Andrew Rieder and Diane Wilson were awarded $750,000 and $500,000, respectively.

Rieder of Santa Paula and Wilson of Lake Tahoe are the parents of Bryan Rieder, 32, who was killed in October 1993 while he and his father were working on an electrical system at the Southern Pacific Milling Co. rock-crushing plant in Oxnard.

According to defense attorney Robert L. McCord, the two men, co-owners of Foothill Electric of Santa Paula, were called to the rock-crushing plant to locate a grounding problem in the electrical system.

While opening a junction box and separating wires to perform tests on the system, employees of Southern Pacific Milling, through a hand-signaling system, “negligently turned on the electrical power,” killing Bryan Rieder immediately, McCord said.

Jurors found Southern Pacific Milling 90% negligent in Rieder’s death. They also found the company had failed to implement safety programs, and that it failed to teach employees a proper signaling and communication system.

The victim was found to be 10% negligent.

Andrew Rieder was awarded $250,000 in economic damages and $500,000 in noneconomic damages. Wilson received $500,000 in economic damages.

Neither Rieder’s father nor Southern Pacific Milling attorney Richard Shimmel was pleased with the verdict.

“What I was wanting was the guy who caused the accident to be investigated a little bit more,” Andrew Rieder said. “You know, at this point I’ve done as much as I can, and I can’t do anything more.”

Shimmel, who said he plans to file a motion for a new trial, said the verdict is wrong because Bryan Rieder is to blame for his death.

“It was our belief that [Bryan] Rieder, by his own action, caused his death,” Shimmel said. “Mr. Rieder set up the signaling system and he used it with an employee from Southern Pacific Milling, and that’s where the confusion began,” he said.