Clerk shot in Hardeeville gas station files claim against his employer, lawyers say
A man who was shot last month at Octane gas and food mart in Hardeeville filed a worker’s compensation claim Monday after not receiving benefits, his lawyers said.
The man was shot in the abdomen, chest and legs while working behind the cash register on Sept. 7, according to lawyers John Morgan and Dylan Bess from Morgan & Morgan, a personal injury law firm. He was taken to Savannah Memorial Hospital by helicopter, according to a news release from the City of Hardeeville at the time of the shooting.
“We are not expecting the locally-owned mom and pop to go pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills that may come when some perpetrator comes in the store and shoots their employee,” Bess said. “We don’t expect them to pay that out of pocket, but we do expect them to carry insurance that covers their employees.“
Employers in South Carolina with four or more employees are required to purchase worker’s compensation insurance, according to the South Carolina Worker’s Compensation Commission website. Both part-time workers and family members are considered employees, the website said. This insurance protects employees in cases of injury ranging from “run-of-the-mill like a slip and fall” to a “violent crime like this one,” Bess said.
The gas station does not have more than three employees, manager Pravin Patel told the Island Packet Tuesday.
Marcus Gordon, 36, of Hardeeville, was charged on Sept. 8 with attempted murder, possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon, Hardeeville Police Department Chief Sam Woodward told the Island Packet at the time of the arrest. Gordon also faces drug charges in relation to this case, according to the South Carolina public index. He remains in custody at the Charleston Detention Center as of Tuesday and was moved for “safety and security reasons,” Sgt. Shakeisha Peebles from the Jasper County Detention Center said.
The owner of the Octane gas and food mart could not immediately be reached for comment.
The owner has yet to file a response denying the claim, Bess said.
