Tracy Morgan is suing Walmart who is the owner of the vehicle that hit his limo and killed his friend. In your opinion, is Walmart responsible for this accident? There seems to be a lot of support for the suit, but I suggest that it is not Walmart's fault for the actions of an over the road driver.
I guess it would be like any other law suit that involves a major corporation. The only way to send a message to any huge corporation now days seems to be hitting them in the pocket book. If in fact the legal system finds them at fault. But this smells of coffee and Mcdonalds right now
would depend on many things. For one, I haven't read a copy of the accident report to know who is "at fault." If the WalMart driver was at fault, were they negligent, over their hours, violating DOT rules, DUI, etc? Was it a faulty equipment issue? Is there a pattern of WalMart drivers violating DOT rules? Even if it was a one-time deal, the driver just happened to fail to yield or disregarded a traffic signal or whatever, s/he was in service to WalMart at the time of the accident. WalMart, being one of the biggest corporations in the world, I am sure has a very good insurance policy (or may be self-insured. That does happen sometimes with large fleet companies.) The fact that the victim in this case is a B list celebrity and his friend doesn't mean a thing. If found to be at fault, WalMart (or their insurance) will pay. If a pattern of negligence is found, ie WalMart drivers are routinely in violation of DOT rules or WalMart fleet has many equipment violations, then they will pay more. There is an formulaic insurance industry standard that applies. Here is a very rough estimate based on a case I know personally to have been adjudicated: A life taken is worth $1 million, + potential lifetime earnings denied, + pain and suffering, + property damage = settlement somewhere around $10 million. Oh, and also this. Is the state which this occurred in a "no fault" state? Could make a difference in the amount awarded.
I've seen the driver and company that owns the trailer/they are driving for before. My neighbor lost a leg pinned off between two cars, he was between, when he stopped to help someone change a tire. Truck side swiped a car into the rear stopped car, everybody was sued. The Walmart driver was negligent from what I read/heard. Walmart was the company he was driving for... Not to different. ~Bill
The driver fell asleep at the wheel while doing 20 mph over the speed limit. He had not hit his daily driving limit. He claimed he was tired because he had driven from Georgia to Delaware to go to work before the accident.
I have a class A license and have had it for close to 20 years. These companies know how many hours they are driving. There is a limit on how many hours you can drive in a week and per day. Most of the laws are in the companies favor and punish the driver and the companies know this and push them to do things they shouldn't figuring they wont get in trouble.
From what I read it said he had been driving 24 hours plus? It is definitely not about Tracys friend, if it were, he'd be going after the driver. He wants money which is why he is going after the corporation.
I am not even surprised by your comment. He was injured and his friend was killed but your right he just a POS. WTF
In a lawsuit I think it is common for your insurance provider/attorney to sue everyone involved in the accident and then sort out the details later in court.
Hmm I'm not surprised you don't get my point. If you want to be offended by the things I say, go ahead. He is a piece of ****, look at what he is doing. He is out for money and doing while using his friends death as an excuse. If you can't see it, sorry.
*edit to my earlier post...I should have said "= awarded" rather than "= settlement." Settlement would have been prior to being adjudicated. I read a bit more of the story. As far as I can see, the company did nothing wrong in this case. Assuming the reporting is correct, the driver had been on the road professionally for 13.5 hours, which is within DOT regulations. The fact that he drove for 12 hours on his own time prior to to reporting for work is on him- not the company. The fact that he was speeding is on him - not the company. The fact that he fell asleep at the wheel is on him - not the company. Many states now treat "drowsy driving" as driving under the influence, and cite drivers for it all the time. I hope the driver had personal professional liability insurance...he's going to need it.
Do you realize that Tracy was in critical condition with multiple broken bones? He sustained serious injuries due to the negligence of that driver. I am not a fan of law suits by any means, but Tracy is not out of line here at all. He may never be the same physically. How could that make him a POS?
I am not offended by what you say, just thought this comment was more ridiculous than usual and that is saying something.
When someone accidentally hurts you, do you go after the person (who probably feels horrible as It is) or do you go after his family. If he wanted "justice" he would have gone after the guy. But it's too bad for wal mart that truck driver isn't as rich as wal mart. Tracy may never be the same, but why is he going after wal mart? Because he wants the money. the driver was negligent, not wal mart. But i guaranty the lawsuit will state that wal mart should have known his circumstancea and he'll get money. He is falling into sue happy souless America.
After debating this at length, I would probably tend to believe that the law suit against Walmart is more than likely the idea of his attorney and not Morgan himself. I have great disdain for most attorneys that handle civil matters as they understand that most big corporations will settle out of court as it is cheaper than all the fees associated with defending a case. This tends to render this type of attorney as greedy bottom dwellers in my opinion.
My wife said from the get go that he would sue them. Wal-Mart has accepted responsibility from what I have heard. They will probably settle out of Court. I am guessing $50 Million on the low end.
i personally don't know Tracy but i wouldn't doubt that he was encouraged by his lawyers and probably some friends. Every one loses on this one Actually his lawyer wins, win or lose they always get paid.
Walmart said if it was a mechanical failure that they would accept responsibility. It wasn't mechanical, it was operator error.
