ASHEVILLE - The city of Asheville has settled a lawsuit alleging that it failed for years to repair a drainage problem in a road, resultingin a wreckin January 2020 that killed a 62-year-old Asheville man.
Guido Ernst Roth,was struck by another driver whose vehicle skidded on ice along Riverside Drive on Jan. 20, 2020.
The city and its insurance companies paid $11,000,000, and two contractors together paid $1,000,000, to Karol Ivy Roth, Guido Roth's widow, according to one of Karol Roth's attorneys, Brian Davis.
Roth had filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2021 against the city of Asheville, Beverly-Grent Inc. and Barnhill Contracting Co., in the death of Guido Roth.
Beverly-Grant and Barnhill were the general contractors hired by the city of Asheville
to complete the River Arts District Transportation Improved Plan, or "RADTIP," a federally funded plan for greenways, traffic circles, parking and other work along the river.
During the project, multiple people complained to the city of Asheville for years about standing water on Riverside Drive, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged that Asheville city officials knew about the issue, and had received complaints from motorists stating that the standing water at times turned into ice, causing dangerous traffic conditions on that road.
In December 2018 and again in February 2020, the Citizen Times reported on thestanding water on Riverside Drive. In 2018, Water Resources Director David Melton told the Citizen Times that the leak was being investigated and that workers had traced it to a large private line.
"When Water Resources turns off the supply to that line the leak stops, so that is a good indicator. A Water Resources leak detection team is working with this customer to get it fixed," Melton said at the time.
Davis told the Citizen Times Sept. 10 that after the crash, he contacted the city and told them the problem needed to be fixed as soon as possible before someone else was seriously injured or killed. The city directed a contractor to fix it, and a new storm water inlet was installed within about three weeks, Davis said.
Davis said that the city initially denied responsibility for the issue, but that a city official later acknowledged in a deposition that the city knew about the problem and did not fix it.
"The duty that the city had, it was a statutory duty. There was a law on the books in North Carolina that talks about a city's responsibility to maintain and repair its roads. This wasn't just some made-up responsibility. It's a legal duty," Davis said.
"I think the reason they didn't fix it is because they didn't really have a system in place for managing citizen complaints or motorist complaints about hazards, and from the discovery we did, it appeared that multiple different people had their hands in this issue, but no one was really taking the lead or assigned the responsibility of getting it actually fixed."
After Roth sued the city, the city sued the contractors involved in the project, alleging essentially that the drainage issue was caused by the project, and that they should have fixed it. Beverly-Grant, Inc. and Barnhill Contracting Company in turn sued Tennoca Construction, which was the entity that actually did the work on the RADTIP project, Davis said.
Davis said that the contractors couldn't work in the area where the water problem was because it had not been released for construction.
City attorney Brad Branham declined to comment on the allegations of negligence in the case, saying that the city's litigation with the contractors is still ongoing.
The city did not admit responsibility as part of the settlement agreement with Roth.
The city paid $500,000 to settle the lawsuit, with the city's insurance companies, Safety National Casualty Corp. and Allied World National Assurance Co. paying the rest. Roth received $4.4 million individually and $6.6 million as the administrator of her husband's estate.
"Regardless of the city's decision to settle or not settle this or any other case, any time there is a situation that involves injury or death, it's a tragic event," Branham said. "And the city takes those things extraordinarily seriously. … We do want to continue to provide our condolences to the parties involved."
Davis, who represented Karol Roth with his wife, Elizabeth Davis, as well as additional co-counsel John McCabe and Alicia Campbell, said that the city's initial unwillingness to admit responsibility for Roth's death was particularly hard for Karol Roth.
Karol Roth did not wish to speak with reporters, Davis said.
"This settlement means a resolution of a very long and hard fight for my client. It was a very emotionally draining experience for her, but it also means that justice was served in that she feels the city's payment of this money represents their acknowledgement of their responsibility," he said.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville settles lawsuit in fatal 2020 accident for $11 million
