Hassinger v. Tideland Electric Membership Corp.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

JAMES C. FOX, District Judge.

This case arises from the electrocutions of three men, Stanley H. Hassinger, III, Robert D. Proctor, and Stuart L. Powell, which occurred on June 5, 1982, at Silver Lake in Okracoke, North Carolina. The men were killed while beaching Hassinger’s 18-foot Hobie Cat sailboat when the top of the mast contacted an overhead power line. Named as defendants in this action are Tideland Electric Membership Corporation (“Tideland”), as the owner and operator of the electric power line, and Coleman Company, Inc., (“Coleman”) and Coast Catamaran…