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A crossing guard hit by a car outside a Fort Mill school in 2024 has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million from the school district and the S.C. Department of Transportation, claiming officials failed to take action at an area that officials knew was unsafe.
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The lawsuit in York County civil court states that even after another crossing guard was killed in early 2024 and three others were hurt in the previous six years, the Fort Mill school district and DOT didn’t do enough to ensure safety before Leslie Richardson was hit by a car outside Catawba Ridge High School in October 2024.
The suit claims the school district and DOT “breached their duties by failing to take reasonable steps to correct known hazardous conditions.”
Richardson’s lawsuit claims that because there were four previous instances in Fort Mill where crossing guards were involved, she could be awarded more than $1 million from the school district and state even though there are caps under state law concerning lawsuits against government agencies.
“The Plaintiff (Richardson) has alleged a minimum of four “occurrences” as the term is used under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, and accordingly, the Plaintiff may obtain an award against SCDOT and School District in excess of one million dollars even if a governmental Defendant is entitled to the protection of any caps,” the lawsuit filed late last week states.
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The school district and DOT declined to comment on the pending legal action.
Crossing guards hit by vehicles
Richardson was working as a crossing guard for Cross Safe, a company the school contracted with for crossing services at many schools at the time. She suffered what her lawyers, Kyle White and Drew Bradshaw, called in the lawsuit “severe, life-changing injuries.”
Earlier in 2024, crossing guard Stanley Brucker died when hit outside two other schools. His family settled a wrongful death lawsuit in July with the school district for $200,000, The Herald exclusively reported. The school district denied any liability when settling the Brucker lawsuit.
Fort Mill police said that after the October 2024 crash that injured Richardson outside Catawba Ridge, a driver of one car hit a second car that struck the crossing guard. Richardson also sued the driver of the first car in a separate part of the lawsuit.
The defendants have about a month to respond to the allegations with court filings. Court records show the case is scheduled for a dispute resolution hearing in April of next year. No trial date has been set.
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