A Bartow County Superior Court Judge ruled there was not enough evidence to find for the plaintiff in the $1 million suit against Georgia Power and Southern Company.

Judge Scott Smith granted Georgia Power’s motion for a directed verdict on Friday.

The plaintiff, Edna Ramcke, filed the suit against Southern Company and Georgia Power after the April 2006 work-related death of her brother Robert Podorsky at Plant Bowen near Euharlee.

The plaintiff alleged Podorsky was killed by a compactor operated by an employee of a construction contractor — who they alleged was unlicensed and an illegal alien — and Georgia Power deliberately allowed a contractor to hire undocumented workers in order to maximize profits and chose to operate the business in an unsafe and unlawful manner.

The lawsuit was originally filed in May 2007 in U.S. District Court, the suit was later dismissed because of lack of jurisdiction and refiled in Bartow County Superior Court in October 2007.

The case was the topic of a WSB-TV story in April 2009, which questioned security policies at the power plant.

According to Georgia Power, there is a zero-tolerance policy for undocumented workers, and agreements with its contractors prohibit the employment of undocumented workers, with any violations directly affecting the contractors.