Danella Seeks Jury Trial on Allegations It Damaged Verizon’s Wireless Facilities
Utilities services company Danella seeks a jury trial on the negligence allegations brought by Verizon, its attorney wrote U.S. Magistrate Judge Therese Wiley Dancks for Northern New York in Syracuse in a letter motion Monday (docket 5:24-cv-00478). Verizon’s counsel consents to the motion, it said. Verizon alleges that Danella was performing work for National Grid replacing utility poles in Syracuse in May 2021 when it removed and transferred Verizon’s wireless facilities from an old pole to a new one without the carrier’s authorization, and did so improperly (see 2404050055). Verizon contends it sustained damages of nearly $110,000 for the costs of repairing and replacing its facilities, which it now seeks to recover from Danella. But the defendant contends that the damages that Verizon allegedly suffered were caused in whole or in part by the plaintiff’s own “culpable conduct.”