Posted on 07/12/2014 2:39:03 AM PDT by South40
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Tracy Morgan has sued Wal-Mart over last month's highway crash that seriously injured him and killed a fellow comedian.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, claims Wal-Mart was negligent when a driver of one of its tractor-trailers rammed into Morgan's limousine van. The complaint claims the retail giant should have known the driver had been awake for over 24 hours, and that his commute of 700 miles from his home in Georgia to work in Delaware was "unreasonable." It also alleges the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
"As a result of Wal-Mart's gross, reckless, willful, wanton, and intentional conduct, it should be appropriately punished with the imposition of punitive damages," according to the complaint.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.msn.com ...
Agreed. The next time he utters something funny will be the first time.
I believe that under New Jersey law, the first target of any lawsuit in this case would be the owner of the vehicle in which Morgan was traveling (in this case, the limousine company). The limousine company would then cross-claim for contribution against the truck driver and Wal-Mart. If Morgan wins a $10 million settlement and the limousine company has a $1 million limit under their insurance, then the limousine company's insurance carrier pays $1M and the other defendants would pay the rest. The limo's insurance carrier would then file for subrogation against the other defendants to recover their $1 million.
Morgan's damages will include compensatory damages and "pain and suffering," both of which would seem to be reasonable in this case. In most frivolous claims it is the "pain and suffering" part that's the scam, since you can't really measure it and it really is a crap-shoot with a jury. In this case it's real, but may end up being dwarfed by the compensatory damages anyway. Morgan's medical bills are likely to be astronomical, and he can surely demonstrate that he has lost a lot of potential income while he's recovering from his injuries.
My prediction is that this will never see the inside of a courtroom.
Welcome to FR, and your post on the store the left hates the most, the gun selling store that won’t go union.
Boycott Costco.
You’ve been making a lot of statements that are not supported by the facts, at least the facts related to us and the facts you’re quoting. I’m not sure whether you realize that or not.
One example, you stated: “Whatever the man’s commute, he still was behind the wheel beyond what federal regulations permit, thus Wal-mart can be considered negligent.”
That statement was based on the following: “Roper had been on the job about 13 1/2 hours at the time of the crash, the report concluded. Federal rules permit truck drivers to work up to 14 hours a day, with a maximum of 11 hours behind the wheel.”
Now, I’m curious as to what precisely you were thinking. Workers are permitted to work up to 14 hours a day, 11 of them behind the wheel, according to that statement the driver had NOT reached that work-day limit. Yet you ASSUMED, with no further detail, that all 14 of those hours had been behind the wheel? The statement “on-the-job” does not provide any detail on hours spent behind the wheel. That information was not provided, nor even really implied.
As another example, you stated: “...an employer cannot be held responsible for somebody being exhausted when they show up to work.”
You obviously missed the central rationale behind the legal arguments. Do you think it was coincidence that the plaintiff’s attorney made issue of a 700 mile commute? Do you think the legal team was just being conversational? The entire purpose for that statement is that they’re trying to make a point that the company DID know that their driver was going to be showing up exhausted as a rule and hence establish some reasonable culpability on the part of the employers based on that prior knowledge.
Do not jump to unsupported conclusions, such a habit both makes you less effective in daily life as well as more easily manipulable.
Lots of people disagree with you. This is obviously a case between insurance companies. What is the point in using this thread to bash the talents of a comedian enjoyed by many and who was in a crash that was injurious to him and fatal to his friend? Would you send a bouquet of stinkweed to a party thrown by someone you dislike?
I fail to see any malice in what either myself or Bender2 wrote. Neither one of us find Tracy Morgan to be “funny”, nor did we make sport of the automobile accident he was in.
Are you some sort of self appointed comedy/thought police? Do you have any credentials stating your authority?
I won’t speak for Bender2, but I couldn’t care less about who disagrees with me.
Okay, then! Be a turd in the punchbowl; see if I care.
Wait, you can’t say that without a Certification in Fecal Beverages, or something...
If anyone’s a turd, it’s you interloper.
Every life is worth the same. However, the monetary value can vary greatly depending on a number of factors of the victim.
A person who generates $500,000 in income has a much greater financial value than someone who makes $50,000.
“...as an employer cannot be held responsible for somebody being exhausted when they show up to work.”
Try that logic the first time a commercial airliner crashes that was being flown by a pilot(s) who had not had proper rest prior to the flight!
“You will answer that the driver was not your employee; he was an independent contractor. (Try this if you are a trucking company, and hire independent driver-operators .... This is a big issue.) You might get away with this if the guy is a one-day hire, but what if you are having your basement gutted and redone, and the crews are on site for a month? Or if your cleaning lady did the deed, and she has come in once a week for ten years. You clearly have a long term employment relationship with her, and hopefully have been reporting income and withholding taxes, or killing the preschoolers may be the least of your worries. How much of an employment relationship has to exist before you are liable for your agent’s actions? And are you liable for their actions while they are in transit to and from your home, or only on-site?”
So that’s what contracts are for! If you fear this kind of liability, write it into your contract with the painting contractor.
I thought that was overly complicated a question.
If someone works for a bank as a teller, and they are called in on a Saturday morning with a 9am call because another teller is sick, and they were up until 4 at a party drinking, and they take a quick shower, hop in their car, and while driving to the bank run a stop sign and run into a day-care bus and kill a half-dozen kids, is the bank liable?
Should the bank have known that the person was likely to be partying on a friday night when not scheduled for work? Should they have asked? The person probably has minimal insurance, but can we go after the national bank that owns the branch for millions of dollars?
I don’t think this is equivalent either, since the truck driver is paid to actually drive a truck, and wasn’t just commuting to work.
Bender I think Tracy is funny
I think he try point out about Walmart pushing truck driver who are tired to drive the load
BY Law they need 12 hours down before next day that how we roll in State of CA
Judging by your actions:
1. Interloping
2. Making less than no sense
3. Not having the intellect to see you’ve been decapitated
4. Insistence on trying to “get the last word in, even though I’ve been shown to be a tool”
I have to conclude that you’re either an embittered female or a beta pseudo-male.
Your opinions mean less to me than what I flush down the toilet on a daily basis.
Now, before you get Hiroshima-ed, go for dinner at Old Country Buffet or go knit some mittens with cats on them. You’ve failed to make whatever nonsensical point you attempted and are coming across as a pathetic cat person.
Ha! Nicely played
actually, since you are part of the community here i think the term would be ‘intraloper’ - but ravers have little time for details
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