Lawsuit filed after Pennsylvania grandma searching for cat falls 20 feet into abandoned mine
By Raquel Ciampi, Ed DiOrio
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WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A lawsuit has been filed following the death of a grandmother who fell into a sinkhole above an abandoned mine outside a restaurant.
Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was with her grandchild, searching for a pet cat, when she pulled over behind the Monday’s Union Restaurant in Westmoreland County in December 2024.
“The Pollard family is looking for answers and accountability,” said the family’s attorney, Mark Malone. “They don’t want their wife, their mom, their grandmother’s name, in death to mean nothing.”
Pollard got out of her vehicle and fell into an approximately 20-foot-deep sinkhole above an abandoned mine.
It took four days to recover Pollard’s body, which was found around 30 feet from where the mine would have sat and 12 feet from where the original sinkhole occurred.
“Elizabeth Pollard should still be alive. The defendants’ alleged failure to provide and maintain a safe environment caused her preventable and untimely death. This lawsuit seeks to hold these entities accountable for their alleged negligence, which has robbed a family of a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother. The Pollards deserve justice, and we will fight to ensure no other family is forced to endure a devastating loss like this,” Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and Malone said in a statement.
The lawsuit looks to hold both U.S. Steel and the owner of the restaurant responsible for her wrongful death. It alleges that U.S. Steel, as the owner of the mine, and the restaurant, which owns the property, were responsible for the maintenance and safety of the area.
The lawsuit claims the area where Pollard fell through the sinkhole was susceptible to collapse after years of mining, adding that no one took measures to address the risk.
“The restaurant is included because they’re the property owner. They’re a necessary party at this point,” Malone said. “Their knowledge of the property since they purchased it and operated on it is important to the lawsuit.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Steel said they are reviewing the lawsuit at this time. No comment was made by the owners of Monday’s Union Restaurant.
“This isn’t just about seeking money for damages,” Malone said. “If we can change U.S. Steel’s approach here on how they approach their abandoned mines to be more proactive than reactive, that’s a huge win for them. They just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anybody else in the future.”
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