Stuntman John Bernecker.
Stunt double John Bernecker should have walked away unscathed after plummeting 22 feet off a makeshift balcony, even though the character he portrayed in “The Walking Dead” was not supposed to survive the gunshot and fall.
Instead, Bernecker died in July 2017 from massive head injuries suffered during a stunt that attorneys say was fatally compromised by “The Walking Dead” production companies, which “repeatedly cut corners on safety precautions,” including stunt performances.
Bernecker’s mother, Susan, sued those production companies Tuesday, in addition to several directors of the episode in Season Eight in which her son died, and the actor who allegedly interfered with Bernecker’s fall. The suit was filed in Gwinnett State Court by Jeffrey Harris of plaintiff boutique Harris Lowry Manton.
Jeff Harris, Harris Lowry Manton
It comes on the heels of a $12,675 fine levied by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration against Stalwart Films, one of the defendant production companies named in the lawsuit. OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta called on the entertainment industry “to commit to safety practices for actors and stunt people” in announcing the fine on Jan. 5.
Stalwart Films responded with a statement disagreeing with the citation, saying “We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously on all of our sets and comply with—and frequently exceed—industry safety standards.”
When he died, Bernecker was working as an independent contractor for Prodigy Stunts, another defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit.
The suit contends that low budgets and expenses allotted for “The Walking Dead” episodes “enforced a pattern of filming and producing ‘The Walking Dead’ cheaply and ultimately unsafely.”
Bernecker suffered fatal injuries after falling from a platform that was transformed into a balcony with a “makeshift” railing, according to the lawsuit.
Portable pads stacked atop cardboard boxes tied together with rope that did not fully extend under the balcony were the only protection to break Bernecker’s fall, according to the suit. There were no airbags, no spotters, and the fall was never rehearsed, and actor Austin Amelio, rather than a trained stunt performer, was the only person on the balcony with Bernecker.
Amelio, who plays survivor Dwight, was directed to “shoot” Bernecker and pretend to push him over the railing and off the balcony without actually touching him, according to the lawsuit. Instead, Amelio pulled or grabbed at Bernecker’s clothing as he initiated the stunt, which appeared to have changed the trajectory of Bernecker’s fall so that he landed on the concrete floor instead of the pads.
David Dial, an attorney at Atlanta’s Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial, said he and his firm are representing AMC, Stalwart Films and other defendants named in Bernecker’s complaint.
Dial forwarded a statement released by Stalwart Films concerning the litigation which said, “Our thoughts and prayers are and have been with John Bernecker, his family, friends and everyone touched by this tragic accident since the moment it occurred. We take the safety of our employees on all of our sets extremely seriously, and meet or exceed industry safety standards. Out of respect for the family, we will have no further comment on this litigation.”
The lawsuit also claims the production companies had no ambulance or other medical transportation on the set in violation of industry standards. As a result, more than 30 minutes passed before a helicopter arrived to transport Bernecker to the hospital, and nearly an hour elapsed before he was hospitalized, according to the lawsuit.
The episode was shot in Senoia about 35 miles south of Atlanta.
Susan Bernecker said she wants answers to what happened to her son.
“I also plan to have the back of other stunt performers across the industry,” she said. “After all, stunt performers were our extended family, and John would want me to look after them in his memory. My goal is to do everything I can to protect other stunt performers and to ensure their safety on the set in the future.”
Harris said, “We plan to hold all responsible parties accountable for the tragic death of John Bernecker, a remarkably talented stunt performer and actor who had a bright future.”
Harris won an $11.2 million verdict last year in a case involving a camera assistant killed while filming the Gregg Allman biopic, “Midnight Rider.” Sarah Jones, 27, was killed on a train trestle near Doctortown while shooting a dream sequence for the film. The suit claimed the movie’s directors and production personnel failed to obtain permission from the railroad before filming on the trestle.
