Columbia Housing Authority to Pay $2 million in Wrongful Death Settlement

Press Release

Attorneys Richard A. Hricik of the Law Offices of Richard A. Hricik, P.A. of Mount Pleasant, and Amanda C. Dure of the Pangia Law Group of Washington, D.C. announced a $2 million dollar settlement was reached and approved today in Federal Court. This concludes the years-long civil rights lawsuit brought against the Columbia Housing Authority on behalf of the family of Calvin J. Witherspoon, Jr. who tragically died from carbon monoxide poisoning on January 17, 2019 at the Allen Benedict Court Apartments in Columbia, South Carolina.  

“I can finally grieve knowing that I got some form of justice for my father and that he can rest in peace,” said Danielle Washington, daughter of Calvin Witherspoon, Jr., who brought the suit.

The facts of Calvin Witherspoon, Jr.’s death (and that of Derrick Roper) are well-known.1 They died from carbon-monoxide poisoning from a fuel-fired furnace in their Columbia Housing  Authority apartment complex. The Columbia Fire Chief investigation noted that there were no carbon monoxide detectors in any unit as was required by the City and State Fire Codes and that their deaths were entirely preventable through regular furnace maintenance.2

The investigation also revealed over 869 code violations, including faulty and missing smoke  detectors, exposed wires, stoves leaking natural gas, and expired fire extinguishers. The then life-threatening living conditions discovered at Allen Bendict resulted in the Columbia Fire Chief ordering the evacuation of all tenants as the conditions, “constituted a clear and imminent threat to human life, safety, or health.3” CHA subsequently razed the entire property.

1 Timeline of major events regarding this entire tragedy are here: https://www.wistv.com/2019/02/12/complete coverage-allen-benedict-court-apartments-timeline/

2 Investigation Summary – https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article237825339.html

3 Article – CFD Chief – Letter – https://www.wistv.com/2019/01/24/conditions-allen-benedict-court-apartments made-clear-imminent-threat-residents-fire-chief-letter-says/

In 2021, Attorneys Hricik and Dure brought a civil rights action alleging the CHA acted with “deliberate indifference to the risk of harm” in its maintenance of the Allen Bendict, including  failing to install carbon monoxide alarms as required by law, resulting in Witherspoon, Jr.’s  death. The District Court dismissed the case in August 2021 on grounds that included the CHA didn’t have actual knowledge of a prior CO leak and found no constitutional rights violation.

An appeal followed and in January of this year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated  the lawsuit stating4:

“At bottom, the facts alleged in this case shock the conscience: a public housing  authority’s deliberate indifference to a risk of harm that threatened numerous  families living in low-income housing. What is more, two men died because of that indifference, several more were hospitalized, and an entire community was evacuated. Substantive due process exists as the “last line of defense” against such official abuses of power that are so arbitrary as to shock the conscience of the court.” 

Following the Appeals Court’s decision, the parties entered into settlement negotiations and an  agreement was reached with CHA’s insurer paying the remainder of its policy of $400,000 and  CHA paying $1.6 million.

“The settlement announced today will neither bring back Calvin Witherspoon, Jr., nor repair the community harm caused by the CHA’s conduct. But by holding CHA accountable, this  settlement sends a message to those who govern public housing – your promise to tenants of  basic safety must be meaningful. You must put safety first. Never again should the lives of the people, families, and children who call their buildings home be at such grave risk – especially as  many of them are the most vulnerable members of our communities,” Hricik and Dure said.

(Per 2020 data, roughly 1.8 million people in the United States live in public housing: 56% of people are  older adults or people with disabilities, and one-third of all residents are children under the age of 18.5) 

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