Parents sue cable firm for their son’s injuries

A couple and their 11-year-old son have filed a lawsuit against Marianas Cable Vision and its employee over the injuries of the minor when an extension ladder fell and hit the boy.

Francisco C. Tudela, Cynthia A. Tudela and their minor son, sued the CNMI Cablevision LLC, owner of MCV, and its employee, Michael T. Aguon, for alleged reckless indifference, negligence, loss of consortium, emotional distress, and lost wages.

The Tudelas, through counsel F. Matthew Smith, asked the Superior Court to order the defendants to pay them damages.

Saipan Tribune contacted MCV yesterday, but no one was available to comment.

Smith stated in the complaint that, on Sept. 8, 2005 at 3:45pm, the boy and his two-year-old nephew were walking down the street near their house in San Roque, Saipan.

At that time, an MCV crew was working on the overhead cable TV lines using a heavy extension ladder hooked onto the cable line itself.

As the boys were walking down the street, Smith said that Aguon cut an adjoining cable, releasing tension on the cable to which the ladder was hooked to.

“It caused the ladder on which Aguon was standing to shoot forward, extend, and slam down onto the street, right where the boys were walking,” he said.

Hearing a crashing sound, Smith said, the boy pushed his nephew out of the way as he himself tried to get out of the way of the falling ladder. Unable to escape, the lawyer said, the 11-year-old boy was hit by the ladder on the head, shoulder, back, and leg.

As a result, the boy suffered substantial injuries to his body and severe shock and injury to his nervous system, Smith said.

At the time, Mrs. Tudela was in the carport of her home, about 25 yards from the accident. She heard the ladder fall, the neighbors yelling and her son’s screams.

Smith said Mrs. Tudela rushed to her son’s side and witnessed him in shock, with blood running down his nose and foaming on his leg.

Since that accident, the boy has experienced extreme pain and suffering, Smith said, enduring many related infections and other complications.

Smith said the boy spent more than 30 days in the hospital, causing him to miss school, while his parents also missed work and important family activities.

“At no time during their work on the cable lines did defendants cordon off the work area or post or place warning signs or orange cones or inform, advise or make any other efforts to alert plaintiffs or the other area residents of their work activities and the dangers associated therewith,” he asserted.