Family of Woman Killed By Manhole Cover Sues MassDOT, Contractors

MILTON, MA — The family of Caitlin Clavette, a Milton art teacher who was killed in 2016 when an airborne manhole cover while driving on Interstate 93, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state Department of Transportation and two private contractors. The private contractors are AECOM, of Chelmsford, and Green International Affiliates, of Westford.

Clavette's family filed the suit in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday, one day before the three-year anniversary of her death. The lawsuit requests damages for pain and suffering. Exact finanicla damages were not specified in the suit.

The lawsuit accuses MassDOT and the contractors of failing to prevent "an obviously mis-matched and severely deteriorated 200-pound manhole cover” from endangering the public and colliding with Clavette's windshield, ultimately killing her, the Boston Globe reported.

A MassDOT spokesperson told the Boston Globe the department has sympathy for the family, and Clavette's death was a tragedy. MassDOT declined to comment further on pending litigation

For more on this story, check out the Boston Globe.

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