Family of man crushed by a bulldozer in his tent at an Atlanta homeless encampment sues nonprofits

The family of a homeless man who died after a bulldozer crushed his tent last year during an encampment sweep filed a lawsuit Friday against the nonprofits involved in clearing the encampment, the second lawsuit they filed over his death.

The lawsuit says Partners for HOME and SafeHouse Outreach are partly responsible for Taylor's death because employees did not check whether Taylor, 46, was in his tent before a bulldozer was deployed to clear it, flattening his tent while he was in it and leaving blood on the street.

Taylor lived in an encampment on Old Wheat Street in Atlanta, which city officials asked to clear ahead of celebrations for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday last January. The encampment was near Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had preached and now the site of annual events to honor him.

Partners for HOME is the city's lead agency on homelessness. SafeHouse Outreach is another Atlanta nonprofit that serves unhoused people. The lawsuit says the organizations should have known to check Taylor's tent after they did outreach at the site in advance.

Cathryn Vassell, CEO of Partners for HOME, said the nonprofit cannot comment on the lawsuit because they have not seen it but “is committed to its mission making homelessness in Atlanta rare, brief and nonrecurring." SafeHouse Outreach did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Taylor's family sued the city of Atlanta in July, alleging city employees also should have checked whether Taylor was in his tent.

Taylor’s death sparked outrage among local advocates and neighbors at the encampment who at the time called the city’s policies on clearing encampments inhumane. They said the city faces a dire affordable housing shortage that makes it inevitable that people will end up living on the streets.

Right after Taylor’s death, the city put a temporary moratorium on encampment sweeps. With the FIFA World Cup coming to Atlanta this Summer, the city has since resumed clearing encampments with the goal of eliminating all homelessness in the downtown area before then. Partners for HOME is close to its goal of housing 400 people ahead of the World Cup, said Vassell.

The lawsuit filed Friday seeks unspecified damages as well as compensation for medical and hospital bills, burial costs, attorney’s fees and litigation costs.

Harold Spence, one of the lawyers representing the family, said at a news conference Friday that city officials and the nonprofit employees didn’t want the “dignitaries” attending the Martin Luther King Jr. event to see the encampment.

“They were in a rush to remove it,” Spence said. “Unfortunately, it turned out they were willing to remove it at any cost.”

Spence added that Taylor had recently secured a job and was ready to “turn his life around.”

Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.