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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Pesce</p>           The widow of a man who suffocated to death in a utility vault in the Forest Homes&ndash;Maple Park Public Water District is asking to settle her wrongful death claims for an undisclosed sum.<br /><br />Plaintiff Carolyn Estes, special administrator of the estate of Jerry Estes, filed her petition for authority to settle the suit brought against Illinois-American Water Company May 11.<br /><br />Carolyn Estes sued Illinois-American, which in turn filed a counter claim against the water district for allegedly failing to warn her husband of the vault's oxygen vitiated environment before he entered it to turn off Illinois-American's water valves.<br /><br />Jerry Estes died on Aug. 4, 2008.<br /><br />Carolyn Estes' suit sought damages in excess of $150,000.<br /><br />Illinois-American alleged that the water district, Jerry Estes' employer, did not properly train him.<br /><br />According to the petition for authority to settle, Carolyn Estes will retain 90 percent of the settlement minus attorney's fees of 33 and a third percent.<br /><br />Litigation expenses spelled out in the document total $8,099.86.<br />The Estes' three adult children will split the remaining 10 percent of the settlement.<br /><br />Madison County Circuit Judge William Mudge presides.<br /><br />The case's trial, set in December 2010, was pushed off.<br /><br />Mary Massa represents Carolyn Estes.<br /><br />Carl Pesce represents the water company.<br /><br />Michael Garavalia represents the Forest Homes water district.<br /><br /><i>The case is Madison case number 09-L-734.</i>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://madisonrecord.com/stories/510571185-widow-seeks-to-settle-wrongful-death-suit-against-illinois-american>