The mother of tragic The Walking Dead stuntman John Bernecker is suing the TV bosses behind the hit show for wrongful death.
Susan Bernecker claims cost-cutting was responsible for her son’s death on the set in Atlanta, Georgia last year (17), and now she is going after executives at AMC, the network behind the series, insisting her son’s death could have been avoided.
Her lawyers filed suit in Georgia on Tuesday (24Jan18), claiming the show’s producers were prevented from taking “reasonable safety precautions” as a “direct result of the policies, pressure, and decisions” from AMC bosses keen to make the show for “minimum cost and maximum profit”.
The dead man’s mother is now seeking a jury trial.
An AMC network spokesman has responded to the suit in a statement to Deadline.com, saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are and have been with John Bernecker, his family, friends and everyone touched by this tragic accident since the moment it occurred.
“We take the safety of our employees on all of our sets extremely seriously, and meet or exceed industry safety standards. Out of respect for the family, we will have no further comment on this litigation.”
Stuntman Bernecker reportedly slipped and fell from a balcony while rehearsing a stunt for the TV zombie drama with actor Austin Amelio on 12 July (17).
Amelio, who plays Dwight on the show, told police after the accident that Bernecker told him he was nervous because he had never performed a stunt drop from so high.
The actor has also been named in the civil suit filed by the stuntman’s mother.
