Rory Terrance Rooney Jr. was 54 years old and trimming branches in his own backyard in Wall Township when he was electrocuted on Sept. 1, 2023, dying before he could be taken to a hospital. About two years and seven months later, his widow has filed an amended wrongful-death lawsuit accusing Jersey Central Power & Light and five other companies of letting overgrown branches creep into high-voltage lines that ran through the treetops above him.
According to the family's attorney, Barry R. Eichen, Rooney was using a metal handsaw or chainsaw when the accident occurred, as reported by NJ.com. Eichen said Rooney's saw never actually touched the high-voltage wires strung through the tops of the trees, yet he was electrocuted anyway. “A healthy tree conducts electricity and high voltage can kill someone,” Eichen said, explaining how contact with a live wire, even indirectly through wood and branches, can prove fatal.
Lynn Rooney was in the yard with her husband when it happened. The amended complaint, filed in New Jersey Superior Court on April 14, states that she saw him “struggle to survive” in the moments after the electrocution. He died in the backyard before he could be taken to a hospital, per Eichen's account to the outlet. The couple had one child together.
Six Companies Named, None Responding
The lawsuit names Jersey Central Power & Light, FirstEnergy, Osmose Utilities Services Co., N.G. Gilbert, Asplundh Tree Expert Co. and the Davey Tree Expert Co. as defendants, alleging all six failed to keep overgrown branches away from power lines. None of the companies named in the suit responded to requests for comment on the allegations, the report notes.
Eichen said the companies needed to ensure the tree was trimmed properly and at the appropriate time, framing the case around routine vegetation-management failures rather than a single isolated incident. He declined to identify the specific location of the accident within Wall Township, saying he wanted to protect the family and shield them from excessive publicity.
The suit was filed under the New Jersey Wrongful Death Act, which allows survivors to recover compensation for financial losses resulting from a death. Under New Jersey statute, a jury may award damages it deems fair and just with reference to the pecuniary injuries suffered as a result. The Rooney complaint specifically seeks compensation for medical and funeral expenses along with Lynn Rooney's mental anguish.
What the Utility Says About Tree Clearance
FirstEnergy, JCP&L's parent company, warns on its own safety pages that a tree branch touching a live power line can carry a dangerous electrical current. The company says its vegetation-management program is designed to keep trees, shrubs and brush clear of its facilities, with trained line-clearance experts visiting neighborhoods roughly every four years, according to FirstEnergy. The company also says property owners are typically notified, either in person or by door card, before pruning work begins.
JCP&L has a four-year vegetation-management cycle. Certified forestry contractors work under JCP&L's direction. In 2023, 86% of tree-related outages involved trees outside rights-of-way.
Not JCP&L's First Electrocution Settlement
This isn't the first time JCP&L has faced a wrongful-death claim tied to an electrocution. In 2022, Andover Township and JCP&L agreed to pay $9.4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the widow of Eric Thomas, who was electrocuted by a fallen power line, according to njherald.com. Thomas, 41, died on March 2, 2018, after going outside during a winter storm and making contact with a fallen wire. FirstEnergy and JCP&L contributed $8.5 million toward that settlement, with Andover Township adding another $925,000.
Not every tree-related claim against the utility has succeeded. A New Jersey appeals court this past July affirmed the dismissal of negligence claims against JCP&L and FirstEnergy Service Company after a tree fell on Mark Solaro's car on Route 23 in West Milford in May 2019, the article notes. The court found that utilities are not responsible for identifying trees that might endanger motorists simply because those trees sit near power lines, though that case concerned a different kind of hazard, roadside trees threatening drivers, not a tree-trimming electrocution.
The danger tree trimmers face from power lines is not unique to New Jersey. On Nov. 3, a landscaper named Darwin Morales-Martines was electrocuted while trimming trees at a home in Hauppauge, New York, and fell from a 16-foot ladder after authorities said he accidentally made contact with a power line, according to Newsday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration warns that contact with a live power line can electrocute someone trimming a tree, a hazard regulators have long flagged for workers and homeowners alike.
The Rooney lawsuit accuses JCP&L, FirstEnergy, Osmose Utilities Services, N.G. Gilbert, Asplundh Tree Expert and Davey Tree Expert of wrongdoing; the allegations have not been proven in court. None of the six companies has responded publicly to the claims. Lynn Rooney seeks accountability for the backyard tragedy that upended her family three years ago.
