The mother of John Bernecker, a stuntman of "The Walking Dead" series, recently filed a lawsuit against AMC Networks for the stuntman's wrongful death, which occurred after sustaining grave injuries during a taping of the series.
Susan Bernecker, the mother of John, filed the lawsuit in Gwinnett County state court, putting emphasis that her son was a victim of a poorly-organized setup caused by the series' low budget on the safety of stuntmen.
The lawsuit claims that AMC Networks "orchestrated and enforced a pattern of filming and producing 'The Walking Dead' cheaply and, ultimately, unsafely." It also indicated that AMC "pressured" Stalwart Films, the studio responsible for "The Walking Dead" series, into low budgets that "cut corners" on safety measures.
"The industry is not doing enough to maintain basic safety guidelines for these performers. Worst of all, they're scared to speak up," said Susan in a news release obtained by The Guardian.
John died during a shoot in Senoia, which is close to Atlanta. The stuntman fell from a balcony that was reported to be 22-feet tall and was gravely injured after. According to the lawsuit, there were no paddings, which led to the gruesome accident.
Although he survived the initial crash, John did not receive medical treatment due to the lack of ambulance in the area. He was escorted by a helicopter 30 minutes after the injury. John, who was only 33 years old, shortly died after. AMC Networks have since released a statement.
"We take the safety of our employees on all of our sets extremely seriously, and meet or exceed industry safety standards," wrote AMC in an email, as obtained by The Los Angeles Times.
The cable network would then go on to say their condolences in the email, further noting that the network company has "no comment on the litigation" out of respect for the Breckner family.
