The death of a North Carolina lifeguard by electric shock drowning has prompted the state to introduce legislation in the hopes of preventing such tragedies in the future.
The family is suing two electrical contractors, accusing them of substandard work and violating code.
In September 2016, 17-year-old Rachel Rosoff was found face-down in a pool she had been preparing to open. In a lawsuit, her parents state she was shocked and rendered paralyzed before drowning. “While Rachel was completely aware of her circumstances, she was unable to move her arms and legs, and was without any ability to save herself, and she consciously drowned,” they said in the filing.
According to a preliminary report by the Wake County Planning, Development and Inspections Department, this occurred after the pool’s pump motor failed and a corroded wire prevented circuit breakers from tripping. Electrical inspections are only required when pools open, so the wiring hadn’t been checked in 37 years.
In April, House Bill 598 was introduced in North Carolina. It would amend state law to say that, on public pools, an electrical circuit or receptacle providing power to a pump motor must include a ground-fault circuit interrupter. Operators would have 90 days after the bill becomes law to ensure such protections are in place.
Additionally, the state would be charged with developing and enforcing rules to monitor electrical safety in the construction and operation of public pools and spas.
In the same month, Rosoff’s parents filed suit against two electrical contractors, accusing them of substandard work leading to their child’s death. They claim Williams Electric Motor Repair violated the National Electrical Code when it worked on the pool in 2011. They said the company should have replaced the wiring and failed to get a permit or inspection, both required by law. Rosoff’s parents accuse Future Connections Electrical of installing the wrong-sized capacitor in the pump motor, causing it to overheat and fail.They also said the company did not report safety hazards when it should have.
The plaintiffs’ legal team includes Edwards Kirby, the law firm led by former senator and once Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, a renown personal-injury attorney. He and partner David Kirby won a record jury award in 1996 for a 5-year-old suction-entrapment victim whose father spearheaded passage of North Carolina’s dual-drain law.
Edwards Kirby said Rosoff’s parents are lobbying for annual electrical inspections on public pools.
