Inside Towers told you on November 6, how an AT&T attorney told a Philadelphia judge two days earlier that the carrier had “no presence” in the Keystone State and should be released from a Pennsylvania lawsuit brought by fallen tower climber Thomas Jeglum. Jeglum was employed by JTI Telecommunications as a tower technician, performing maintenance, installation, repair and upgrade to telecommunications towers and related infrastructure. He was part of a crew working on a 51-foot tower in Allentown, PA, on June 15, 2013 when the rung on a detachable ladder came loose, causing him to fall more than 50 feet. He was critically injured and in a coma, miraculously waking just before Christmas 2013 to have a Christmas Day wedding to the mother of his children in the hospital.
Now the judge in the case ruled that AT&T will face the charges, reports RCR Wireless News, and be part of the group being sued for damages in excess of $50,000 and arbitration limits, plus pre- and post-judgment interest and costs in the case.
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge John M. Younge rejected the notion lodged by AT&T lawyer Louis Hockman that the carrier has always been “only a holding company” and specifically, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Dallas. Jeglum’s attorneys will reportedly have to prove that AT&T does business in the state to keep AT&T in the lawsuit.
