ELECTRONICALLY FILED - 2019 Aug 09 4:25 PM - JASPER - COMMON PLEAS - CASE#2019CP2700450

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA ) IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

)
COUNTY OF JASPER ) CIVIL ACTION NO.: 2019-CP-27-

EASTMAN MARINE CONSTUCTION, )

LLC AND ASHLEY EASTMAN For )
Themselves and On Behalf of All Others )
Similarly Situated, )
Plaintiff, ) SUMMONS
) (Jury Trial Demanded)
v. )
)
ABLE CONTRACTING, INC., )
Defendant. )
________________________________________________________

TO THE DEFENDANT ABOVE-NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the complaint herein, a
copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your answer to this complaint
upon the subscriber, at 690 North Green Street, Post Office Box 2500, Ridgeland, SC 29936,
within thirty (30) days after service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service, and if you fail to
answer the complaint, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded
in the complaint.

PETERS, MURDAUGH, PARKER, ELTZROTH

& DETRICK, P.A.

BY: s/ Daniel E. Henderson

Daniel E. Henderson
SC Bar # 2912
Post Office Box 2500
Ridgeland, SC 29936
843-726-6131
AND
VAUX MARSCHER BERGLIND, P.A.
Roberts “Tabor” Vaux, Jr.
SC Bar # 77421
Post Office Box 769
Bluffton, SC 29910
843-757-2888
ATTORNEYS FOR THE PLAINTIFF
August 9, 2019
Ridgeland, South Carolina
 ELECTRONICALLY FILED - 2019 Aug 09 4:25 PM - JASPER - COMMON PLEAS - CASE#2019CP2700450
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA ) IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
)
COUNTY OF JASPER ) CIVIL ACTION NO.: 2019-CP-27-

EASTMAN MARINE CONSTUCTION, )

LLC AND ASHLEY EASTMAN For )
Themselves and On Behalf of All Others )
Similarly Situated, )
Plaintiff, ) CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT
) (Jury Trial Demanded)
v. )
)
ABLE CONTRACTING, INC., )
Defendant. )
________________________________________________________

THE PARTIES

1. The Plaintiff, Eastman Marine Construction, LLC is a business operating in Jasper

County, South Carolina.

2. The Plaintiff, Ashley Eastman is the owner of Eastman Marine Construction, LLC.

3. The Defendant is a corporation with its principle place of business in Jasper County,

South Carolina.

CLASS ALLEGATIONS

4. A class action is alleged pursuant to South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

5. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of persons (“Class”) that includes all businesses,

corporations, and individuals adversely affected by the Defendant’s operation of a recycling

center, garbage dump and/or landfill at or near 472 Schinger Avenue, Ridgeland, Jasper County

South Carolina.

6. That the Class consist of dozens of businesses and individuals who work and/or live in

the immediate area of the recycling center, garbage dump and/or landfill.
 ELECTRONICALLY FILED - 2019 Aug 09 4:25 PM - JASPER - COMMON PLEAS - CASE#2019CP2700450
7. The Class involves questions of law and fact common to all individual members of the

Class, such as whether Defendant engaged in wrongful conduct or practices related to the

operation of a recycling center, garbage dump and/or landfill.

8. The claims and damages sought by the Class are typical of the claims and relief that

could be sought by individual members of the class. Specifically, all members have suffered

similar injury and damages as a result of Defendant’s wrongful conduct. The claims and

defenses of the Class therefore arise from the same conduct by Defendant and are based on the

same legal theories.

9. Plaintiff will adequately and fairly represent the interests of individual members of the

proposed Class in that they are similarly situated persons who work and/or live in the immediate

area of the recycle center, garbage dump and/or landfill.

10. The prosecution of separate actions by individual members of the Class would create a

risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications with respect to individual members of the Class,

which would establish incompatible standards of conduct for the party opposing the Class.

Accordingly, a class action under Rule 23 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure is in

the best interests of judicial economy.

GENERAL AND FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

11. That in early June 2019 a fire started in Defendant’s pile of trash at the defendants’ place

of business, as of the date of the filing of this suit, the fire has yet to be extinguished.

12. That toxic and harmful air and ground pollutants are emitting from the fire and pile of

waste on Defendant’s property and are traveling to properties owned by the Plaintiff and Class

members, thus creating a dangerous environment and damages to individuals, their health, and

their property interest.

 ELECTRONICALLY FILED - 2019 Aug 09 4:25 PM - JASPER - COMMON PLEAS - CASE#2019CP2700450
13. That as a result of the aforesaid conditions, Plaintiff and other class members have

suffered personal injury, lost revenue, decreased property values, and other damages.

14. That, at all times relevant herein, Defendant was negligent, negligent per se and careless

in the following particulars:

a. in operating a recycling center, garbage dump and/or landfill in a negligent

manner;
b. in failing to properly maintain the waste and debris on its property;

c. in failing to prevent the waste and debris from igniting and burning;

d. in failing to extinguish the fire;

e. in failing to use the degree of care and caution that a reasonable and prudent
business would have used under the circumstances; and
f. in such other and further particulars as the evidence in trial may show;

all of which combined and concurred as a as a direct and proximate cause of the injuries and

damages suffered by Plaintiff and the Class members herein, said acts and omissions being in

violation of the statutory and commons laws of the State of South Carolina.

WHEREFORE, Class Plaintiffs pray for judgment in their favor against Defendant as

follows:

1. General, special, and consequential damages in an amount to be proved at trial.

2. For such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.

SIGNATURE PAGE TO FOLLOW

 ELECTRONICALLY FILED - 2019 Aug 09 4:25 PM - JASPER - COMMON PLEAS - CASE#2019CP2700450
PETERS, MURDAUGH, PARKER, ELTZROTH
& DETRICK, P.A.

BY: s/ Daniel E. Henderson

Daniel E. Henderson
SC Bar # 2912
Post Office Box 2500
Ridgeland, SC 29936
843-726-6131

AND

VAUX MARSCHER BERGLIND, P.A.

Roberts “Tabor” Vaux, Jr.

SC Bar # 77421
Post Office Box 769
Bluffton, SC 29910
843-757-2888

ATTORNEYS FOR THE PLAINTIFF

August 9, 2019
Ridgeland, South Carolina