Lawsuit 'closure' after fatal power cut

Folole Muliaga's family are to sue over the mother of four's tragic death.

Legal papers are to be filed at the Auckland High Court seeking financial redress from Mercury Energy and Middlemore Hospital regarding Folole's death, which came after power was cut to her Mangere home in 2007. Folole, 44, needed a mains-powered oxygen machine to aid her breathing as she battled heart and lung disease and obesity.

She died two-and-a-half hours after a contractor disconnected the power supply because of an unpaid $168.40 bill.

"I want to see closure," Folole's widower Lopaavea Muliaga said. "And it is obvious that the children would like closure for what happened to their mother. It is hard to forget.

"With the actions that were taken [leading up to the death], we would like to see finality."

The Muliaga family's lawyer, Olinda Woodroffe, said she would be seeking a minimum $200,000 from Mercury Energy, the retail business of Mighty River Power, and Middlemore Hospital.

Three days after Folole's death the family was handed a cheque for $10,000 by Mercury Energy. But Woodroffe said: "It is peanuts compared to the loss of life. It was nothing."

The Counties Manukau District Health Board, which runs Middlemore Hospital, would not comment about the pending legal battle. A spokeswoman for Mighty River Power also said it was inappropriate to comment.

Woodroffe said the backbone to the civil action included the medical advice provided to Folole by Middlemore Hospital and the legalities and processes Mercury Energy followed before its contractor cut the Muliagas' power.

Woodroffe said money for the family was "very tight". The ongoing legal battle was only possible because of heavily discounted and volunteer work by her legal team.

In the aftermath of Folole's death, then Prime Minister Helen Clark fumed: "This is not New Zealand. This has never happened before and it seems an outrage to me that the callous actions of one contractor working for a company should throw our country's reputation down the drain."

- © Fairfax NZ News