$1M settlement ends lawsuit over Myrtle Beach drowning

A Myrtle Beach lifeguard company will pay $1 million in the 2020 drowning of a Florida man, settling a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his family, The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston reported.

Filed in state court in 2023 by Phalda Morris, of Jacksonville, Florida, the action named John’s Beach Service and two lifeguards.

The victim, Franklin Morris, drowned after being caught in a rip current near 16th Avenue North on June 19, 2020.

The lifeguards had been on duty nearby, but their duties also included managing beach rentals, the newspaper reported. The practice is called “dual role lifeguarding,” a practice since banned by Myrtle Beach and Horry County.

Morris’s death came after the National Weather Service issued a rip current warning that day for Myrtle Beach, The Post and Courier reported the lawsuit as saying. The lifeguards did not stop Morris, his son or the numerous other people who had entered the ocean.

Matthew Harrison, who represented John’s Beach Service, declined to comment. The defendants previously denied negligence allegations.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs could not be reached for comment.

Of the $1 million, 35% will paid for attorney fees and costs, the newspaper reported.