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WILKES-BARRE — A court filing this week by the estate of a Luzerne County corrections officer killed in a prison-elevator accident suggests manufacturer Schindler Elevator Corp. is being unhelpful in the discovery process.
The original lawsuit was filed last February after the death of Kristopher Moules, 25, of Larksville.
Moules fell 59 feet down an elevator shaft from the fifth floor at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in July 2016, authorities say. Inmate Timothy Darnell Gilliam Jr., 27, fell backward and hit the elevator door, pulling Moules down the shaft with him. Both men were killed after landing on the top of the elevator car.
The brief was filed by attorneys for Moules’ estate: Joseph A. Quinn Jr., Michael A. Lombardo III and Nicole M. Santo, all from the law firm Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn, of Kingston.
The attorneys describe Schindler as “unnecessarily frustrating the discovery process,” specifically with regards to a series of mobile phone applications called “Field Link” developed by the company.
The apps reportedly contain technical and safety information that employees could access that concerned the elevator. The lawyers say repeated requests for information about the apps have not been met.
Lawyers in the brief also say the defense for Schindler has claimed the plaintiffs have not asked for information regarding the apps, but they say this claim is “patently false.”
The lawyers representing the Moules estate filed another brief last December, asking for sanctions to be placed on Schindler’s defense to pay to have key witnesses deposed for a second time. This came after Schindler provided the plaintiffs with what the brief called a “document dump” of 569 pages of key information — after three witnesses had already been deposed.
“This is cause for great consternation,” Moules’ attorneys said of the document dump.
So far, Schindler has not filed any response to either brief.
When the lawsuit was filed early last year, it also named other companies linked to the elevator’s installation, maintenance or inspection.