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    Court tosses $8M verdict in “Walking Dead” stuntman’s death

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1688 Views
    In this image released by AMC, Danai Gurira, left, and Andrew Lincoln appear in a scene from “The Walking Dead.” (Gene Page/AMC via AP)
    ATLANTA (AP) --

    An appeals court has thrown out an $8 million jury verdict awarded to the family of a stuntman who was fatally injured while filming an episode of "The Walking Dead" in 2017.

    The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that civil claims brought by the parents of stuntman John Bernecker were barred by the Workers' Compensation Act. 

    Bernecker's family sued AMC Networks, production company Stalwart Films and others in Gwinnett County State Court outside Atlanta after the 33-year-old stuntman died from a head injury suffered while performing a fall from a balcony 25 feet (8 meters) above the ground during filming in the Georgia town of Senoia.

    Attorneys for Bernecker's parents, Susan and Hagen Bernecker, argued those producing the show skimped on safety measures for financial and scheduling concerns. Lawyers for the defendants said the stuntman's death was an unforeseeable accident.

    A civil jury hearing the case in December 2019 found AMC wasn't negligent, but awarded Bernecker's parents $8 million from Stalwart Films and others it found to be at fault.

    Jeffrey Harris, an attorney for Bernecker's parents, told the Daily Report  he believes the March 11 ruling by the appeals court was in error. He said he plans to ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review the decision. 

    Tags:AMC NetworksJohn BerneckerThe Walking Dead



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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