Litigation - Recent Cases.
Altoonian v. Atlantic Electric Company

April 19, 1996: A Cape May County Superior Court jury of six deliberated more than 10 hours over two days and concluded that Atlantic Electric, a Pleasantville utility, was unintentionally negligent for inadvertently locating a 69-kilovolt underground line on John and Sandra Altoonian's property. The jury awarded the Altoonians a total of $762,524. The six jurors declared that Atlantic Electric's high power underground line did not give John chronic myelogenous cancer (CML), a potentially fatal condition characterized by an abnormally high number of white blood cells.

Jurors compensated the Altoonians for their lost wages, future lost wages, and emotional distress. The largest part of the award, $348,524, represented John Altoonian's anticipated loss in future earnings. The jury also awarded the 49-year-old former heavey-equipment operator $149,000 - wages it said he'd lost since contracting CML. Sandra Altoonian, 47, received $120,000 for the emotional distress she said she had suffered since learning in 1990 that her husband had leukemia. In addition, the utility agreed during the trial to pay about $8,700 for locating the underground line on the couple's property.

Atlantic Electric termed the jury's decision to award monetary damages disappointing and confusing and indicated it would appeal that portion of the verdict. The Altoonians had hoped the jury would decide the utility was at fault for causing John's cancer. They had wanted an unspecified sum to pay for a bone-marrow transplant to treat the disease. During the trial, medical experts had testified that a bone-marrow transplant would cost about $300,000.

After John Altoonian's home was built on property abutting an Atlantic Electric right-of-way, the utility discovered that a single underground 69-kilovolt distribution line ran beneath the property outside the right-of-way. The utility moved the line. Plaintiff John Altoonian alleged in a lawsuit filed in November 1991 that the 69-kV underground/underwater distribution line near his home reduced his property value and caused his chronic myelogenous leukemia. Following discovery, a trial began in early April 1996. The jury was instructed to render separate verdicts on the property value and personal injury claims. Plaintiff is represented by attorney William Wolf of the Lakewood firm of Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf. Atlantic Electric is represented by attorney Gerald J. Corcoran of the Pleasantville firm of Youngblood, Corcoran, Aleli, Lafferty & Stackhouse, with Crowell & Moring, Washington, D.C.