Phelon gives up on suits
Company, its insurer stop pursuing security company they said was negligent in shooting
AIKEN - R.E. Phelon Co. and its insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance, dropped lawsuits in Aiken County Common Pleas Court on Monday against the security company they said was negligent when Hastings Arthur Wise shot four of the plant's employees.
The four lawsuits were filed against Regent Security Services Inc. on behalf of 32 Phelon employees including one who was wounded in Mr. Wise's September 1997 rampage.
Phelon and Liberty Mutual were seeking to recover the more than $380,000 paid to the employees through the state's Worker's Compensation Act.
Phelon and Liberty Mutual have also filed federal lawsuits that were dismissed. Now, the companies have intervened in the federal lawsuits filed by the families of those injured or killed, Liberty Mutual attorney David Maybank Jr. said.
The company can seek to recover the money it paid out if the families recover any money in their lawsuits, said attorney Steve Surasky, who represents one of the families.
A conference in the case is scheduled for Aug. 8. A trial with a jury from Charleston S.C., is set for November, Mr. Surasky said.
In February, Mr. Wise was sentenced to death for the shootings.
In March, Stanley L. Vance, a Regent security guard - the first injured on the day of the shooting - settled his lawsuit against Phelon for an undisclosed amount of money. Mr. Vance said Phelon failed to warn him of Mr. Wise's disagreements with the company.
Reach Matthew Boedy at (803) 648-1395 or mboedy@augusta.com.
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