MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — A Myrtle Beach-based lifeguard company on Friday agreed to pay $1 million to the family of a Jacksonville man who drowned in 2020 .
Horry County Common Pleas Court Judge William Seals Jr. presided over a Sept. 19 hearing where Core Specialty Group, the insurance provider for John’s Beach Service, agreed to the terms, documents show.
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Franklin Morris, 52, was pronounced dead at the Grand Medical Center on June 19, 2020. He was swimming near 16th Ave. N and got caught up in rip currents.
Morris’ wife, Phalda, filed a wrongful death suit in June 2023. He left behind two children.
Morris entered the water at an area where a lifeguard was supposed to be posted. At the time, John’s Beach Service was operating under a franchise agreement that had its guards splitting duties between watching swimmers and managing equipment rentals.
The so-called “dual role lifeguarding” policy — which was so unsafe the U.S. Lifesaving Association refuses to certify any agency that uses it — was to blame for Franklin’s death, according to the lawsuit.