ATLANTA -- The family of a homeless man who died after a bulldozer crushed his tent during an encampment sweep sued the city of Atlanta on Friday over his death, calling it “tragic and preventable.”
The lawsuit filed by Cornelius Taylor’s sister and son alleges that city employees failed to look to see if there was anyone inside the tents in the encampment before using a bulldozer to clear it. Taylor, 46, was inside one of the tents and was crushed by the truck when his tent was flattened, the lawsuit says.
City officials had called for the clearing of the encampment in preparation for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The encampment was blocks away from Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had preached. An autopsy report later revealed Taylor's pelvic bone had been broken and that he suffered damage to organs and internal bleeding.
“A tent that was occupied by a human being was crushed by this heavy equipment. That’s obviously wrong,” attorney Harold Spence said. “Nobody looked inside the tent, and if someone who looked inside had taken 10 seconds to do so, this tragedy could have been averted. And if you don’t know what’s inside, you don’t crush it.”
The lawsuit filed in Fulton County State Court asks for a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages, as well as repayment for medical expenses, funeral costs and legal fees. It was filed against the city and seven unnamed city employees, including the driver of the bulldozer.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that cities across the country can enforce bans on homeless camping. But clearings are controversial.
Taylor’s death sparked outrage among local advocates and neighbors at the encampment, who called the city’s policies on clearing encampments deeply inhumane. They said the city faces a dire affordable housing shortage that makes it inevitable that people will end up living on the streets. The family's lawyers described the lawsuit as a call for city leaders to treat homeless people as deserving of “respect and dignity” instead of rushing to clear their communities “as if they were invisible.”
City officials have said they are doing that. Right after Taylor's death, the city put a temporary moratorium on encampment sweeps. With the FIFA World Cup coming to Atlanta next year, the city has since resumed clearing encampments with the controversial goal of eliminating all homelessness in the downtown area before then.
Last week, the city closed the camp where Taylor lived and said officials coordinated with the local nonprofit who leads the city’s homelessness services to offer people living there housing with supportive services.
Lawyers said they were grateful for the city's efforts, but more work is needed. Members of the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition said they are still paying for hotel rooms for eight former encampment residents. Taylor's lawyers and family called on Mayor Andre Dickens' administration cut through red tape such as issues with documents and help the others get housing.
A spokesperson for the city did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Taylor's sister Darlene Chaney teared up during a Friday news conference where lawyers announced the lawsuit as she re-listened to descriptions of the gruesome injuries her brother suffered.
She said Taylor loved to read everything from science fiction to the Bible. He was eager to leave the encampment to rebuild his life, and stayed positive about his future even as barriers such as getting him an ID slowed that process down, she said. She misses his “annoying” weekly calls — and said now she only has one brother to annoy her. She misses having two.
“We're here, just because someone, in my own personal opinion, was lazy,” Chaney said.
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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.