‘This was totally avoidable’: Family taking legal action after father dies on construction job

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT/Gray News) - Nearly a year after the death of a former Powell County executive, his family is now fighting a legal battle.

“It breaks my heart to think this could happen to another family. I’ve seen the way it’s devastated ours,” Clayton Anderson, James Anderson’s son, said.

Clayton Anderson lost his father nearly a year ago.

The family said James Anderson worked for Codell Construction to supervise work being done by Rising Sun Development on a new school in Jackson County.

Kentucky State Police said James Anderson fell off an equipment trailer while unloading concrete tiles and later died at a hospital.

But attorneys for his family said there’s more to the story, along with a video and public records they have obtained to prove it.

“Rising Sun is using, in essence, a forklift to unload these 3,000-pound slabs in an illegal, unlawful method called free rigging. That’s not using the correct equipment, they didn’t have heavy enough equipment, nor enough manpower,” attorney Robert Roark said.

According to Robert Roark, James Anderson was on the back of the truck. The crew was only a few men, unloaded one slab, and before they could remove a second, the driver of the truck moved forward.

A second slab came loose, and it, along with James Anderson, was knocked off the truck. James Anderson died shortly after.

“We want the public to know about this free rigging. It is dangerous. They’ve got to get the message,” Roark said. “Contractors have to get the message. You can’t do this and put these people at risk.”

Roark said Rising Sun filed a lawsuit against the Anderson family and his estate, to claim him as an employee at the time of his death.

In response, Roark has filed a counterclaim on the family’s behalf to try and prove in court that James Anderson’s death was preventable.

“So many things went wrong. This was totally avoidable,” Roark said.

Representatives with the Rising Sun Development did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the situation.

Copyright 2025 WKYT via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.