Con Edison Sued by Family of Woman Electrocuted in Storm

Consolidated Edison Inc. has been sued by relatives of a New York woman killed during Hurricane Sandy when she was touched by a downed electrical wire that the family claims Con Ed should have shut down before the storm hit.

Bloomberg reported that Lauren Abraham, a 23-year-old makeup artist and teacher-in-training, was electrocuted outside her home in the Richmond Hill section of Queens on the night of Oct. 29 as Sandy tore through New York City.

"Con Ed inexplicably failed to shut down the power lines in the area surrounding Ms. Abraham's home in advance of the storm.  Con Ed also failed to employ technology to de-energize downed power lines and/or move the existing above-ground power lines underground, as has been done in Manhattan," according to the lawsuit filed by Thompson Wigdor LLP.

A spokesman for Con Edison told Bloomberg in a telephone interview that the company had yet to be served with a filed copy of the complaint. “This was a tragedy caused by Superstorm Sandy. We will address the matter in court...” (Bloomberg)