The Philadelphia School District’s negligence proved fatal for a woman who died when a Roxborough High utility pole fell and crushed her while she was walking at the school’s athletic complex, a new lawsuit alleges.
Read more A Strawberry Mansion church will be redeveloped as affordable housing
Paula Budin, a retired teacher, was walking on the Roxborough High track on the morning of Dec. 5, 2024 when a 45-foot wooden pole snapped at its base, striking her.
A passerby found her, bleeding and unresponsive on the ground, and called emergency services, but paramedics could not revive Budin, who died of blunt-force trauma injuries from the accident.
Lawyers for Budin’s family say the district — and the Parsons Corporation, which was hired by the school system to complete a facilities assessment of all its properties — with negligence. Officials failed to flag rotting at the base of the pole or properly maintain or inspect the pole, the suit said.
“The School District of Philadelphia knew or should have known of the dangerous condition of the subject pole as there were visible signs of its decay as far back as 2014,” the suit, filed this week in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, reads. “Despite this actual and/or constructive knowledge and their appreciation of that risk of catastrophic harm, the district did not take corrective action nor did it warn students or members of the community of the risk of catastrophic harm.”
Budin’s family is seeking financial damages.
The school district does not comment on pending litigation, spokesperson Naima DeBrest said. Parsons did not immediately have comment.
Philadelphia’s underfunded school system has a massive footprint, more than 300 buildings and athletic complexes. It has, in some cases, struggled to adequately maintain its facilities.
Budin, who was 73 when she died, had enjoyed an active lifestyle, her family said. She had taught at Germantown Academy and the Community Partnership School in North Philadelphia before her retirement and was close to her family — two sisters, two nephews and a niece.
On the morning of her accident, Budin was walking near her home on Roxborough’s track on Pechin Street, which is generally open to the public. Four poles typically used to hold lighting or security cameras were positioned around the athletic complex.
Sometime after the accident, the district removed the three remaining poles from the property, the suit said. A subsequent inspection by Budin’s and the district’s lawyers and experts revealed the poles had no inspection tags, indicating they had not been inspectedprior to the accident, the suit says.
Budin’s lawyers say that the pole in question was buried in grass near a storm drain, on a slope near the track. The drain was filled with debris, and because of the condition of the area, no standing water could drain – leading to “lengthy periods of water exposure to the base of the pole at ground level that caused the pole to deteriorate and rot to the point of severe and dangerous decay,” the suit says.
The other poles were not situated near storm drains, and had no water damage or decay, the suit says.
Budin’s estate charges that Parsons, which in 2015 was hired to complete facilities condition assessments of all of its buildings and athletic complexes, is also culpable.
Parsons inspected the Roxborough fields more than once, issuing multiple reports about the fields, but did not inspect the poles, Budin’s lawyers say.
“The Parsons defendants knew or should have known they should inspect the utility poles located on the Roxborough athletic track and field yet failed to do so,” the suit reads. “At the time of December 2024 incident, the pole at issue had discoloration at the base and other visible signs of rot which must have been present for a significant period of time.”
Budin’s lawyers say there were signs of decay — and danger — present since at least 2014.