A woman fell to her death from a rising bridge in Florida, and now her family is suing
The family of a 79-year-old woman who fell to her death from a rising drawbridge in West Palm Beach is suing the company that operates the bridge and the tender who was on duty.
The lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County this week is asking for more than $30,000 in damages and drawbridge safety changes.
The lawsuit names Florida Drawbridges Inc., the company that was hired by the Florida Department of Transportation to operate the Royal Park Bridge in West Palm Beach. It also names Florida Drawbridges former employee Artissua Paulk, the drawbridge tender operating the bridge Feb. 6, the day Carol Wright fell to her death.
On March 17, Paulk, 43, was arrested and charged with one count of manslaughter by culpable negligence. She was later released on a $20,000 bond and was given a no-contact order for witnesses, including her supervisor, and Wright’s family.
In Paulk’s arrest affidavit, police wrote that surveillance video and deleted text messages between Paulk and her supervisor showed she lied in her statement to detectives about walking out to a balcony — a required safety protocol — to check if anyone was on the bridge before opening it.
Last week, Florida Drawbridges fired Paulk and her supervisor. The company said Paulk violated the company’s safe operating procedures and her supervisor violated the company’s code of ethics and document retention policy.
The lawsuit
Attorney Lance Ivey filed the suit Monday on behalf of Jill Humphrey-Sanchez, who is the representative of Wright’s estate.
According to the suit, Wright’s death was a “preventable tragedy.”
Wright was walking her bicycle across the Royal Park Bridge when the tender opened the bridge for a boat, police said at the time.
Ivey explains in the suit that Wright suffered “extreme mental pain as she desperately clung to the bridge,” before falling to her death.
The suit says Florida Drawbridges Inc. and Paulk failed to “follow procedures,” and failed to “visually inspect the pedestrian walkway before raising the drawbridge.”
Florida Drawbridges, in an emailed statement to the Miami Herald on Thursday through its lawyer, said it’s reviewing the allegations.
“Ms. Wright’s death was tragic; however, the company performs over 25,000 openings a month and has the appropriate safe operating procedures in place,” the statement reads.
The company also noted in its statement that “all tenders must pass a written test, bridge specific operating test and requalify annually. All tenders have a dedicated area specific supervisor for quality assurance.”
The lawsuit, in addition to seeking more than $30,000 in damages, is also seeking to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Among the changes the suit proposes:
▪ Increase supervision and oversight to make sure protocols for checking the bridge spans and making intercom announcements are followed.
▪ Install cameras inside and outside bridge tender houses.
▪ Increase the education and training of bridge tenders.
▪ Hire more staff.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 7:45 AM.
