Court tosses out $5M verdict against DeKalb in student death

DeKalb County does not have to pay a $5.1 million jury award to the family of a 21-year-old man who died after falling from a county garbage truck while performing community service, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Vincent Currid, a rising senior at Emory University, died Oct. 22, 1999, at DeKalb Medical Center after he struck his head from the fall. The accident occurred three weeks earlier when the driver made a turn on Lawrenceville Highway.

At the time, Currid was on probation and performing court-ordered community service for a drunken driving conviction.

Currid’s father and brother filed suit for wrongful death. Their lawyer contended Currid received no training or proper equipment for working on the trash truck. The family also maintained Currid was on the back of the truck when it was traveling too fast, causing him to lose his grip.

After a trial, a DeKalb jury ruled the county should pay $5.1 million in damages.

But on Monday, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld a Court of Appeals decision that found the county was shielded from liability under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.