7 ew Ct 20CV FILED . FEB 20 2m COMPLAINT rRNA — ra COMES NOW the Plaintiff, Penny Lawson (hereinafter “Ms, Lawson") is wife and surviving spouse of Decedent Steven W. Lawson (hereinafter “Decedent” or “Mr. Lawson”) and on behalf of Corey Lawson (hereinafter “Corey”), as surviving child of the Decedent, and for her action against the Defendants would show unto this Honorable Court as follows L This Complaint is brought by Ms. Lawson for the wrongful death of her husband, Steven W. Lawson, which occurred as a result of the Defendants’ gross negligence, recklessness, and failure to take immediate and direct action in response to the substantial risk of catastrophic injury and/or death due to the collapse of Highway 70 on Clinch Mountain, These actions ultimately lead to Mr. Lawson’s horrific, traumatic and untimely death on Thursday, February 21, 2019. 2. Ms, Lawson is a resident of Washington County, Tennessee and resides at 187 Harmony Acres Drive West, Jonesborough, Tennessee 37659. Atthe time of his death, Mr. Lawson was a resident of Washington County, Tennessee and resided at 187 Harmony Acres Drive West, Jonesborough, Tennessee 37659. Ms. Lawson and Mr. Lawson’s only child is Corey Lawson, a resident of the State of Kentucky. 3. Defendant Hawkins County, Tennessee (“Hawkins County”) is a governmental entity and municipality of the State of Tennessee, with its principal place of business located at 150 East Washington Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. Defendant Hawkins County may be served through its chief executive officer, County Mayor Jim Lee, at 150 East Washington Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. Lawson v. Hawkins County Sherif's Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Circuit Court Complaint Page 2 of 134, Defendant Ronnie Lawson (“Sheriff Lawson”) is the duly elected Sheriff of Hawkins County, Tennessee and the chief executive officer of the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office (the “Sheriff's Office”), a department and agency of Hawkins County, Tennessee, with its principal place of business at 117 Justice Center Drive, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. Sheriff Lawson and the Sheriff's Office may be served through the chief executive officer of Hawkins County, County Mayor Jim Lee, at 150 East Washington Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. 5. Defendant Hawkins County Emergency Communications District 911 (“ECD-911”) is a quasi-governmental entity with its principal place of business at 2291 East Main Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. ECD-911 may be served through its ‘managing agent/officer, Director Rita “Gay” E. Murrell (“Director Murrell”) at 2291 East Main Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. 6. Defendant Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency (“EMA”) is a quasi-governmental entity, or an agency of Hawkins County, Tennessee, with its principal place of business at 150 East Washington Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857, EMA may be served through its managing agent/officer, Director Jamie Miller (“Director Miller”), at 150 East Washington Street, Rogersville, Tennessee 37857. EMA was previously managed by Director Gary Murrell, who was terminated and/or resigned as Director of the EMA on or around September 30, 2019. FAC 7. On Thursday, February 21, 2019, Mr. Lawson was caring for his elderly mother at her home in Eidson, Tennessee. Mr. Lawson and his siblings took turns taking care of their Mother each evening until she fell asleep at her home. Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Circuit Court ‘Complaint Page 3 of 13,8. At approximately 1:30 a.m., Mr. Lawson left his mother’s house to return home to his family in Jonesborough, Tennessee. 9. Between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m., Mr. Lawson was traveling southbound in his Ford truck across Clinch Mountain on Highway 70 toward Rogersville. 10. As Mr. Lawson rounded a switchback curve on the mountain, both lanes of Highway 70 had already collapsed and had been completely destroyed by a mudslide. At 1:45 a.m., Mr. Lawson's vehicle drove through the wide chasm where Highway 70 once existed but had been completed washed away. See attached photographs as Exhibit “A”. Mr. Lawson suffered a traumatic death when his vehicle flipped multiple times down the mountain, 11, Minutes later, another motorist, Johnny Mabe, was traveling behind Mr. Lawson and was injured when his vehicle also drove through the gaping void where Highway 70 was collapsed. Similarly, Mr. Mabe’s vehicle rolled several times down the mountain and finally came to a rest. 12. Forty-five (45) minutes earlier, at 12:58 a.m., motorist Alexis Raebel, was traveling north on Highway 70 and contacted Defendant ECD-911 to advise that trees were on the highway and the highway was “cut off” Speaking to ECD-911 dispatcher Dylan Wood, Ms. Raebel stated that she “almost went off of it” (the road) and further, “if somebody's going up the mountain...they’re going to go off the road”. The conversation lasted approximately 1 minute and 32 seconds. Dispatcher Wood gathered very little information about the condition of the road or the extent of the damage to Highway 70 in order to assess the danger of the situation. Dispatcher Wood asked no other questions and essentially did nothing to assess the substantial and unjustifiable risk to other motorists, Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et Al, Havekins County Cireuit Court Complaint Page 4 of 13,particularly motorists traveling southbound on Highway 70. The transcript of the call between the Dispatcher and citizen is attached hereto as Exhibit “B”. 13, Dispatcher Dylan Wood “stacked,” i.e, put on hold, the 911 call since the would-be responding Officer, Michael Godsey, was on a prior vehicle stop. Another Dispatcher, P. Nowlin, then dispatched the responding Officer, Michael Godsey, at 1:05 a.m, to the scene of the road collapse on Highway 70. 14, Officer Godsey arrived on the scene before 1:13 a.m, and contacted ECD- 911 Dispatcher Caitlin Smith at 1:13 a.m. Merely eleven seconds into the 2 minute and 51 second call, Officer Godsey states, “Okay, wh, might want to let the highway department know that like this, this mudslide is still sliding, uh...” and stated it was a “big mudslide” In addition, he advised that a power pole was leaning. 15. Notably, this was not the first instance of a mudslide on Highway 70 at Clinch Mountain, nor was it the first time that Highway 70 was unsafe or dangerous to navigate due to a mudslides, rockslides, and/or other road conditions, 16. The Officer and 911 Dispatcher continued to casually discuss the situation with absolutely no sense of urgency or concern for other citizens traveling on Highway 70. ‘At one point in the call, Dispatcher Smith states, “Oh my goshhh. You know one of these days, like the whole mountain is just gon’ come down I feel like.” To end the call, Dispatcher Smith joked to Deputy Godsey, “Alright well don't let a rock fall on you or your car...”, prompting laughter from both, A transcript of the call is attached hereto as, Exhibit “ ”, During this call and the approximate thirty (30) minutes occurring thereafter, neither Dispatcher Smith or Deputy Godsey described or assessed the condition of Highway 70, whether it was necessary to shut down the Highway to prevent any accidents Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriffs Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Circuit Cowt ‘Complaint Page Sof 13or injuries, possible options or procedures for closing the Highway from the other side to prevent any accidents or injuries, or what steps needed to be taken to protect any motorists using the road that night. In fact, neither Dispatcher Smith or Deputy Godsey took any action at all to close the road as would be required in any instance where the road or bridge is damaged, washed away, collapsed, untravellable or unpassable. 17, Atapproximately 1:21 a.m., Dispatcher Smith dispatched Danny Jones with Tennessee Department of Transportation. This ECD-911 dispatch call was previously heard and it is known to exist; however, for unknown reasons and in contravention to the Tennessee Public Records Act, T.C.A. § 10-7-508 ef seq., the ECD-911 Director Murrell has withheld this recording, as well as other recordings, documents, and records, despite multiple written requests by the undersigned, 18, Dispatcher Smith then placed a call to Director Gary Murrell of EMA at approximately 1:22 am, and advised Mr. Murrell of the situation. In response to the to contact the Holston Electri situation, Mr. Murrell only advised Dispatcher S: Company regarding the downed power pole as a result of the mudslide, Mr. Murrell was apparently asleep at the time of the call and did not respond to the emergency of the situation or take any other action, This ECD-911 dispatch call was previously heard and it is known to exist; however, for unknown reasons and in contravention to the Tennessee Public Records Act, T.C.A. § 10-7-503 et seq., the ECD-911 Director Murrell has withheld this recording, as well as other recordings, documents, and records, despite multiple written requests by the undersigned. 19. According to the ECD-911 records that were provided to the undersigned, the EMA Director, Mr. Murrell, did not arrive on scene until 3:07 a.m. despite the clear Lawson v, Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et AL, Hawkins County Circuit Court Complaint Page 6 of 13and substantial emergency of the situation—specifically, a heavily travelled highway had completely collapsed causing a massive hole in the road, into which entire vehicles were traveling and falling down the mountain, 20. Dispatcher Smith placed a dispatch call to Holston Electric Company at approximately 1:30 a.m, 21. At approximately 1:46 a.m., Deputy Godsey contacted ECD-911 Dispateh and advised that a vehicle had hit a “rock embankment” and flipped multiple times down the mountain, This vehicle, driven by Mr. Lawson, flipped multiple times down the mountain, leaving Mr. Lawson trapped inside his vehicle for nearly eleven (11) hours before he was finally found deceased. 22. Shortly after 1:46 a.m., Deputy Godsey advised ECD-911 Dispatch that a second vehicle (Mr. Mabe) had also wrecked and he would contact Hancock County to see if they could, “to try to block the road off.” This was the first time that either Deputy Godsey or any ECD-911 or EMA personnel discussed or thought about the possibility of blocking the road, or at least warning any vehicles travelling, on the other side of the chasm his action occurred approximately forty-seven (47) minutes after ‘opened by the mudslide; Ms. Raebel’s warning that a vehicle was going to go off the road, and after two (2) separate vehicles had fallen victim to the Defendants’ inaction, gross negligence, and reckless conduct. 23, The first time any Defendant considered closing the road was nearly forty- seven (47) minutes after Ms. Raebel reported that the road was “cut off” and “if somebody's going up the mountain... they're going to go off the road.” Approximately thirty-three (33) minutes after Deputy Godsey arrived on the scene, where clearly visible evidence of the Lawson v. Hawkins County Sherif’s Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Circuit Court Compt Page 7 of 13,situation was plainly present, including but not limited to a tree across the road on the scene and guardrails from the collapsed portion of the Highway in the air below the landslide, 24. Defendants were clearly consciously aware and had both constructive and actual notice of the severe road hazard and allowed nearly forty-five (45) minutes to pass before discussing closing Highway 70. 25. Mr. Lawson was killed due to the reckless and grossly negligent conduct of all Defendants and their employees or agents as named herein, including but not limited to: a. Deputy Godsey’s blatant refusal to follow any protocol in assessing the situation, discussing options to close the Highway to prevent accidents, failure to communicate the danger to other motorists, conscious disregard to the unjustifiable and substantial risk of a vehicle falling off the mountain due to the collapse, and failure to take any action to stop traffic; b, _ ECD-911 employees’ failure or blatant refusal to obtain more information, make additional dispatch calls to any fire department or other emergeney personnel to report the situation on Highway 70, or follow proper protocol regarding unsafe road conditions. EMA employees’ or agents’ failure or blatant refusal to take any action at all other than to communicate a downed utility pole to the Utility Company, obtain any additional information, respond to the scene, assess the situation, or take any helpful action whatsoever. 26. Mr, Lawson is survived by his wife, Ms. Lawson, of thirty-five (35) years and their only son, Corey Lawson. 27. All Defendants were on notice and consciously aware that Highway 70 had an active mudslide, severe road hazard, trees in the road and a power pole was destabilized due to the mudslide for almost an hour before any attempt, whatsoever, was made to close Highway 70. Lawson v, Hawkins County Sherif’s Office, Et AL, Hawkins County Circuit Court ‘Compl Page 8 of 1328. Available options to the personnel of ECD-911, the Sheriff's Office, and EMA included, but are not limited to: a, A dispatch call to the Stringersville Fire Department to shut down the other side in Bidson or warn motorists traveling on the other side of the chasm in the road; b. A dispatch call to other Sheriff's Office personnel or emergency personnel for the same purpose; Further assessment of the situation by Deputy Godsey, including walking the scene of the mudslide in order to determine the condition of the road. 29. Despite being aware of the substantial and unjustifiable risk that any vehicle traveling southbound on Highway 70 at Clinch Mountain would undoubtedly travel directly into the gaping void left by the complete destruction of the road, the Defendants failed to act in any meaningful way that would have protected motorists traveling on Highway 70 and consciously disregarded this unjustifiable and substantial risk by taking no action at all to aid, assist, protect, or prevent any southbound vehicles from falling off the mountain, 30. This clear deviation from the standard of care that any ordinary person would exercise under the circumstances—said action being performed by an ordinary citizen forty-five minutes earlier despite no law enforcement or emergency dispatch training of any kind—constitutes reckless conduct and gross negligence on the part of the Defendants’ employees. 31. The Defendants’ grossly negligent and reckless conduct was a substantial factor in bringing about the untimely death of Mr. Lawson and his death was certainly reasonably foreseeable and could have been anticipated by a person of ordinary intelligence and prudence, e.g. by witness Alexis Racbel who easily recognized, despite no formal Lawson v. Hawkins County Sherif's Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Circuit Court Complai Page 9 of 13,training in emergency procedures or road issues, that any southbound vehicle would fall off the mountain if the road was not shut down. 32. The aforementioned actions constitute gross negligence and reckless behavior on the part of the Defendants and their employees because of their extreme dereliction in the operation of the Defendants’ emergency procedures and protocols, and said neglect substantially and unjustifiably increased the risk that harm would occur to any motorist traveling southbound on Highway 70. Defendants’ actions, through their employees and agents, was done with utter unconcern for the safety of these motorists and with reckless disregard for the rights, safety, and livelihood of others such as to amount to conscious indifference to the clear risk that would be confirmed later when Mr. Lawson and Mr, Mabe's vehicles fell off the mountain. 33. The aforementioned dereliction of duty on the part of the Defendants? employees, officers and agents was the result of, in part (but not limited to): Blatant and rampant nepotism amongst the Defendants; b. Failure to adequately train employees regarding proper protocol and procedures; c. Failure to maintain adequate or proper protocols and procedures to deal with emergency situations such as the situation that occurred on February 21, 2019; and/or 4, Failure to maintain proper licensing under state law and regulations 34. — Immunity for all Defendants has been removed for this action pursuant to the provisions of T.C.A. § 29-20-203, -205, -108, etc., and said negligence constitutes negligence per se under these and other relevant statutes. Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Circuit Court ‘Compl Page 10 of 1335. As a direct and proximate cause of the gross negligence and reckless misconduct of the Defendants, Mr. Lawson suffered a horrific and untimely death when his vehicle flipped down the mountain multiple times. 36. Plaintiffs are entitled to the following damages: a. Pecuniary value of the life of the deceased, b. Physical pain and suffering of the deceased, ¢. Emotional/mental pain and suffering, Loss of enjoyment of life, e. Loss of consortium for Ms. Lawson and Corey; f, Property damages; and, g. Funeral and burial expenses. WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff demand the following: 1, Process issue and be served upon the Defendants, HAWKINS COUNTY, ‘TENNESSEE; Defendant, HAWKINS COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT 911; and, Defendant, HAWKINS COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, that all Defendants be required to appear and answer this Complaint within the time required by law; 2. Plaintiff, PENNY LAWSON, as Wife and Surviving Spouse of STEVEN W. LAWSON, be awarded a judgment against Defendant, HAWKINS COUNTY, TENNESSEE, for damages in the amount of $1,000,000.00; 3. Plaintiff, PENNY LAWSON, as Wife and Surviving Spouse of STEVEN W. LAWSON, be awarded a judgment against Defendant, HAWKINS COUNTY Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Cireuit Court Complai Page 11 of 13EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT 911, for damages in the amount of $1,000,000.00; 4, Plaintiff, PENNY LAWSON, as Wife and Surviving Spouse of STEVEN W. LAWSON, be awarded a judgment against Defendant, HAWKINS COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, for damages in the amount of $1,000,000.00; 5. The child of the decedent, COREY LAWSON, be awarded a judgment against the Defendants for the loss of consortium of his Father in the amount of $800,000.00; 6. A jury be empaneled to try the issues in this cause; 7. The Plaintiff be awarded such other, further, and different relief to which she may be entitled. 8. The costs of this action be taxed to Defendants. THE SEELEY.LAW FIRM. jomas J\Seeley, IIT BPI 8884 Brett N. Mayes, BPR No. 034762 ‘The Seeley Law Firm P.O. Box 52, Jonesborough, TN 37659 Telephone: (423) 913-4904 Facsimile: (423) 913-4332 E-mail: tom! @theseeleylawfirm.com E-mail: bretv@theseeleylawfirm.com Attorneys for the Plaintiff Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et AL, Hawkins County Circuit Court ‘Complaint Page 12 of 13,We, the undersigned, acknowledge ourselves as sureties for all costs of this action. THE SEELEY LAW FIRM homas J. Seeley, IIT Brett N. Mayes Lawson v. Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, Et Al, Hawkins County Cireuit Court ‘Complaint Page 13 of 13,