7 months ago
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Maine's highest court has upheld a $4.9 million award to a Bangor man who sued Central Maine Power Co. after suffering severe electrical injuries when a sailboat mast he was moving came in contact with a low-hanging power line. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court judge's ruling that found CMP was negligent because the electrical line was more than 15 feet closer to the ground than it should have been. Bryan Smith was lowering a mast from a sailboat in 2002 when it made contact with a power line at a boatyard where he worked in Penobscot. He was severely burned and suffered significant permanent injuries. Smith received workers' compensation benefits from his employer, Devereaux Marine Inc., and sued CMP for negligence.
