By Tim O'Connor
Assistant Campus Editor
Publication Date: 08/22/07
INDIANAPOLIS - The parents of Wade Steffey, a freshman who died of electrocution on campus last January, have come to a half million dollar settlement with Purdue.
The announcement comes months after the Steffey family sought legal counsel related to their son's death.
Steffey, 19, a freshman in the college of technology, was accidentally electrocuted in a high-voltage utility vault in Owen Hall on Jan. 13. It was nine weeks before his body was discovered in the room by a maintenance worker on March 19.
Although a 38-page independent review of Steffey's death, paid for by Purdue and completed by Rimkus Consulting Firm on July 2, indicated that Steffey may have been intoxicated at the time of his death, one of the family's lawyers disputed this claim.
"We're convinced (intoxication) played no role whatsoever in the occurrence," said Scott Montross of the firm Montross, Miller, Muller, Mendelson and Kennedy. "Our toxicology experts, which were not hired by Purdue, indicated that it would be impossible to support the proposition that Wade was intoxicated."
Steffey's father, Dale Steffey, said his intent was not to blame the University, but to make sure Purdue was held accountable.
"We asked the University to give us answers and accept responsibility if responsibility fell there," he said. "And responsibility did fall there."
The maximum amount recoverable for wrongful death is limited to $500,000 by a state statute, said Montross.
"Purdue paid $500,000," he said. "I don't think there's any interpretation that I could come up with other than the fact that, yes, they did accept responsibility, appropriately so.
"But also, to their credit, to step up and recognize that there were errors made and they've been very professional about this since the beginning of our ordeal."
Purdue has since taken steps in all buildings that house electrical equipment to make sure these rooms are safe, including the addition of warning signs on high-voltage areas and improved locking mechanisms. However, the Steffey family expressed concerns that other universities have not gotten the message.
"If this kind of situation could arise at a university like Purdue, with its reputation for engineering and technology, and there are over 3,000 colleges and universities in this country," Dale said, "then it is surely not the only place where this story lies."
He said educating other schools could be one of the goals of the philanthropic foundation that will be paid for with the settlement money.
The Steffey family's plans of education don't stop at the door of danger; they extend to academics. In addition to the settlement, Purdue is endowing $100,000 for the Wade Steffey Memorial Scholarship. Wade's parents will work directly with Purdue's Division of Financial Aid to award select incoming Indiana students with the scholarship.
"The settlement provides financial compensation for the family and also assures that Wade's memory will live on through the students who have access to a Purdue education because of the scholarship," Joe Bennett, vice president of university relations, said in a press release.
Wade's parents and their lawyers stressed the scholarship was a solid foundation of cooperation from this point forward.
"There are so many good people who helped us," Dale said. "We thank them and look forward to working with Purdue. It was never our intention to cause the University any harm."
Although Wade's loved ones hope the settlement will help them to move on, their loss remains. Dawn Adams, Wade's mother, reflected that the investigation of her son's death allowed her to learn a lot more about him, and that she and her husband remain proud parents.
"We continue to love him, miss him, grieve him," she said.