A janitor at a Belk division retailer in South Carolina died within the facility’s rest room final yr, along with her physique remaining there for 4 days. Now, her household is suing the corporate, claiming the physique was decomposed to the purpose the place an open casket funeral would have been not possible.
Bessie Durham, the 63-year-old employee, entered the Belk rest room in Columbia round 7 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 15, 2022. The door was reportedly locked and her cleansing cart sat exterior the room till Sept. 20, when retailer staff found her physique.
Durham had handed away within the rest room from a cardiac downside that occurred shortly after she clocked in to start work that day, in keeping with her household’s legal professional Chris Hart.
The Lexington County Coroner’s Workplace confirmed the dying was as a result of pure causes, and a Columbia Police investigation dominated that no crime had been dedicated.
Police initially contacted the Belk retailer after receiving a name from Durham’s household, who reported her lacking. Once they arrived to the shop, they have been in a position to pull up safety footage exhibiting Durham getting into the lavatory in the beginning of her shift however by no means popping out, in keeping with the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
“They didn’t ask if Bessie was OK. They didn’t ask why hasn’t this cart moved in 4 days,” Hart mentioned of the shop’s staff. “They requested why aren’t the bogs being cleaned.”
AP Picture/Jeffrey Collins
Attorneys Chris Hart, left, and Seth Rose, second from left, converse to announce that the household of a Belk worker is suing the division retailer chain after a employee died in a toilet and was not discovered for 4 days throughout a information convention on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, in Columbia, S.C.
The division retailer remained open through the days that Durham’s physique sat decomposing within the rest room, with employees allegedly unaware of the state of affairs.
“This household ought to have had the chance to say goodbye the correct approach as a substitute of getting to take a seat on the funeral and odor the decomposing physique of somebody they cared about,” added legal professional Justin Bamberg.
Thus far, Durham’s kin haven’t requested for a certain amount in damages, however declare within the lawsuit that Belk staff ought to have been inspecting the power often, and observed the incident sooner.
With Information Wire Providers
