Widow of Kansas Man Killed in Evergy Accident Wins Lawsuit June 4, 2021
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Texas jury has awarded $222 million to the widow of a Kansas man who died in an accident at Evergy’s Jeffrey Energy Center power plant near St. Marys, Kansas, in 2018.
The jury found that Team Industrial Services, a Texas-based subcontractor to Westar Energy, was 90% responsible for the death of Jesse Henson, of Manhattan, the family’s attorneys said in a news release Tuesday.
Henson and a co-worked, Damien Burchett, of Overbrook, were burned alive when they were investigating a loss of power at the steam plant near St. Marys, Kansas, on June 3, 2018.
The Associated Press
A Texas jury has awarded $222 million to Kelli Henson, the widow of a Kansas man who died in a 2018 accident at Evergy’s Jeffrey Energy Center power plant near St. Marys.
The jury found that Team Industrial Services, a Texas-based subcontractor to Westar Energy, was 90% responsible for the death of Jesse Henson, of Manhattan, the family’s attorneys said in a news release Tuesday.
Henson and a co-worker, Damien Craig Burchett, of Overbrook, were both 45 when they were burned alive by steam as they were investigating a loss of power at the steam plant on June 3, 2018.
Westar, which is now called Evergy, was found to be 10% responsible, The Wichita Eagle reported.
Widow of Manhattan man killed in 2018 Jeffrey Energy Center incident awarded $222 million
A Texas jury has awarded $222 million to the widow of a man who was killed in a June 2018 accident at Evergy’s Jeffrey Energy Center power plant near St. Marys.
The jury found Texas-based subcontractor Team Industrial Services 90 percent responsible for the death of Jesse Henson, of Manhattan. Henson and a co-worker, Damien Burchett, of Overbrook, were burned alive by steam at the plant. Evergy, then-known as Westar, was found to be 10 percent responsible.
The men were engulfed by hot steam while checking on a loss of power. Burchett’s relatives have filed a separate lawsuit.
A Texas jury has hit piping repair and maintenance company Team Industrial Services Inc. with a $222 million verdict in a suit alleging it failed to repair a faulty relief valve, leading to a worker being scalded with superheated steam, resulting in his death.