Plaintiff entitled to $1.5 million

A judge’s ruling awards $1.5 million dollars to settle a wrongful death case in Oconee County.  It’s the case of an 80-year old woman killed when crushed by a newly-installed dumbwaiter in her Keowee Key home.  The damages are awarded in Mary Susan Crerar vs. John Andrews and others.  Crerar, a widow, was killed June 27, 2020.  In a hearing last week, Crerar’s daughter, Sara Crerar, testified that her mother lost her life while she apparently was measuring the bottom of the dumbwaiter for shelving paper, resulting “when the dumb waiter installed by Defendants crushed her neck due to a sudden and rapid drop of the device,” as asserted in the plaintiff’s pleadings.  The breakdown of the award:  $1 million actual damages; $500 thousand punitive damages.