Family of 11-year-old boy who died in unheated Texas mobile home sues power companies for over $100

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Washington Post

million.

For more than 24 hours last week, Maria Elisa Pineda’s pastel green mobile home outside Houston had no power and heat as temperatures plunged to 9 degrees. On Tuesday, Pineda found her 11-year-old son, Cristian Pavon, dead under a pile of blankets on his own bed — a death authorities suspect was a result of hypothermia.

Now, Pineda is suing two major Texas energy providers, alleging Cristian would not have died had both companies alerted residents that the outages would last several days during the dangerous cold snap.

The lawsuit filed over the weekend, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, also accuses Entergy Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, of failing to protect the state’s independent power grid from a historic deep freeze that left millions without electricity, heat and water for days.

“The power providers, long before any of us, knew that they would not have sufficient power to protect us and they didn’t tell us that,” Pineda’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, told The Washington Post. “You have people that died because of that. It’s just not acceptable. We’re going to hold people accountable.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/family-of-11-year-old-boy-who-died-in-an-unheated-texas-mobile-home-sues-power-companies-for-over-dollar100-million/ar-BB1dTMbU?ocid=NL_ENUS_D1_20210222_4_3

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. I expect M$M coverage along the lines of ...

"The Pineda Family ... Are they REALLY Legal?"

"Marisa Pineda ... did she skimp on the thickness of the blankets?"

"Records show Pinedas bought six pack of beer only two nights before son perished"

[SoFlaBro]

2. $100 dollars!?! Small claims court!?!

N

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. Try clicking on the URL...

[IronLionZion]

16. $100 million nt

[rdking647]

4. ercot has soverign immunity. (for now)

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-Supreme-Court-to-decide-whether-ERCOT-is-15968323.php

[EX500rider]

5. Waiting on the autopsy might be a good idea. nt

[mezame]

6. Found Her Son...

Ummm...found him, like when? Did she tuck him in the night before? Nothing about when she saw him last. Senseless death, but now that she's opened this can of worms, let's wait for police/coroner reporting.

And while getting a heads-up from ERCOT would've been great to know, when it becomes apparent that your household is in serious trouble, how would parents handle that? I don't have offspring, I'd know how to survive if I had to. But what was this woman thinking?

[Chemisse]

11. That was my thought too.

I don't want to pile on to a woman who lost her child, and maybe she just didn't understand the consequences of cold weather, but when it is really cold and the power is out you bring your children and huddle up in bed with them and keep them safe and warm.

[rickyhall]

13. What I thought, too. Why isn't everybody in one bed, pets, too?

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. I wonder if he had any underlying health issues

An autopsy may uncover a defective heart valve or some other heart issue.

[greenjar_01]

22. "I don't have offspring..."

[Turbineguy]

7. They could have

wasted that money on maintenance and weatherproofing.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Corporations can't cry, they can't bleed.

Despite a history of "corporations are people", they don't feel guilt.

The only thing that can cause them pain is to lose money.

Sue them, maybe they learn a lesson. or maybe not.

[LanternWaste]

10. Who exactly is arguing your premise?

If no one, then it appears you're simply arguing against a wholly irrelevant point you merely infer.

[IronLionZion]

15. Punitive damages are to force companies to change their policies

in this case it's to invest in winterizing measures and better communication so this doesn't happen again in a few years

[MicaelS]

18. When corporate execs start being imprisoned....

For crimes the corporations made, then I will pay attention to your mindset.

[Rorey]

20. I struggled with this

When my favorite husband died at the age of 38, I was devastated. I felt that his doctor was horrible, and could have done more to try to save him. I saw a lawyer, and when I told him I really didn't want money, he told me I HAD to want money. I struggled a lot with what it would mean to be enriched because my husband died. It felt like I was putting a price on his life. I wondered how I could live with that.

Ultimately I didn't file a suit because, with the help of medical experts, I realized that it would likely not be provable that my husband could have been saved with better care. Not back in those days.

My point is, I get what you're saying. I also understand the desperation of a family suffering the loss of that little boy. It's incomprehensible. I imagine that his grief-stricken mother is feeling much the same as I did at the time my husband died. All I wanted was to have him back. All she wants is her son back. It's futile to ask for the impossible, so you ask for what IS possible.

Losing her son was hell, and this lawsuit is also going to be hell.

[sheilahi]

23. maybe

Maybe they need the money to pay for their $45,000 gas bill.

[Chemisse]

12. The individual lawsuit should be scrapped, but the one for failure to protect the grid

should be on behalf of all those who died.

Power companies should not be liable for having a particular timetable for when the power is to be restored. Too many factors can alter that timetable. People need to respond to the situation as it stands in a way that bests keeps them safe.

But a class action against failure to protect the grid makes a lot of sense in this situation.

[colorado_ufo]

14. Sue the bastards.

It is the only thing that will get their attention. They knew for over 10 years that winterization of the power plants and sources was critical - life and death critical - and they chose to do NOTHING in order to save money!

I read that this poor little boy was elated at the snow - he had never seen snow - and died that night. Many people die on hiking trails because they don't understand, or underestimate the threat of, hypothermia. And kids seem so resilient! I read that there are other children in the family who survived; perhaps this poor child had an underlying condition of which the family was unaware, which made him more susceptible to the cold. Single digit temperatures are indeed dangerous.

The cold killed this little boy, but so did the cold hearts of businesses and politicians.

[MontanaMama]

17. I'm not going to jump on this family at this point.

I can’t imagine their pain and I will reserve judgment until we know how this boy actually died and what the circumstances around him were. There is so much we do not know.

I’ve been puzzling over this weather disaster in TX since it began. I ask myself why folks weren’t more prepared? I came to the conclusion that asking questions like that isn’t logical or supportive. I live in Montana and deep cold weather is what we live with for a good portion of the year....BUT what would I do if I had no natural gas flowing, no electricity and no water all at once? I would be in a mess too....AND, I know what to do in cold weather. Many or most people in TX don’t know what to do in times like this AND they had no leadership helping them prepare. I have shelved my judgement of the victims.

ETA: I haven’t reserved judgement for TX leadership who did nothing but profit from this disaster and blame others.

[dlk]

21. Texans passed tort reform

The maximum award someone can now receive is $250,000.

[Jimbo S]

24. Class Action suit?

I don't have legal background. Would this path instead lead to a greater chance for justice?