Daughter of man killed at Oceano Dunes files lawsuit

The daughter of a Grover Beach man killed in the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area last December is suing the driver who allegedly caused the accident and his employer for wrongful death, court records show.

Kathryn Tatum filed the lawsuit Feb. 20 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court, naming Dustin Van Phillips and his employer, Luv2Camp, as defendants.

Luv2Camp rents trailers to campers at the dunes from its Pismo Beach location.

A State Parks spokesperson previously told The Tribune that Bryon Tatum, 52, was driving north on the beach around 5:30 p.m. Dec. 28 when he stopped and stepped out of his vehicle. Then another vehicle driving north struck Tatum and his car.

According to Kathryn Tatum’s attorney, Todd Porter, Tatum was driving a 1969 GMC truck when he stopped to remove a flag from his vehicle on a straight stretch of beach. Meanwhile, Van Phillips, who was driving a 2002 Chevy Suburban on behalf of his employer, became distracted and looked down, according to the suit. When he looked up again, his vehicle crushed Tatum against the GMC truck, the suit claims.

Tatum died at the scene.

Claims made in civil complaints only represent one side and have not yet been adjudicated in court.

A call to Luv2Camp was not returned, and Van Phillips could not be reached.

According to the complaint, Kathryn Tatum — Bryon Tatum’s only child — lost the “care, comfort and society of her father, as well as his financial support for her necessities of life.”

It seeks unspecified compensatory damages.

Kathryn Tatum previously had lost a relative to an auto accident. In 2005, her sister, Jamie Tatum, 20, was killed in a single-car accident on the Nipomo Mesa.

Porter said his client, now in her 20s, had lived with her father her entire life.

This story was originally published February 26, 2015 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Daughter of man killed at Oceano Dunes files lawsuit."