Free Newsletter
School-bound driver hit by big rig settles for $1M
A trucking company’s insurer has paid nearly $1 million to a Lenoir County woman who was driving to pick up her son from school when a tractor trailer smashed into her car. The truck was attempting to pass Melanie Moll’s car from behind in a no-passing zone as she made a left turn and T-boned […]
Workers’ Compensation – Disability – Job Search – Reasonableness – Truck Driver
Franklin v. Broyhill Furniture Industries When a truck driver has limited his job search to truck-driving positions, before the Industrial Commission can conclude the truck driver is disabled, the Commission must make findings and conclusions explaining why the limitation on his job search was reasonable. We affirm in part but reverse and remand on the issue of disability. Defendant argues[...]
Workers’ Compensation – Suitable Work – Unjustified Refusal – Truck Driver – Dock Work
Leggett v. AAA Cooper Transportation Even though the proffered job as a dock worker/truck driver paid somewhat less that plaintiff earned as a truck driver, the job was within plaintiff’s medical restrictions and might have led to plaintiff’s reinstatement as a full-time truck driver. Plaintiff’s refusal to start back at “the bottom” was an unjustified refusal of suitable work.
Workers’ Compensation – Truck Driver – Accident – Termination – Unfounded Litigiousness
Alexander v. AAA Cooper Transportation, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-08-0146, 8 pp.) (Danny Lee McDonald, Commissioner) Appealed from Opinion & Award of Deputy Commissioner Bradley W. Houser. I.C. No. 089319. Holding: The defendant-employer failed to show that a non-injured worker would have been fired under circumstances like those of plaintiff’s wreck: He was traveling at […]
No liability for device makers in Buncombe distracted driver crash
Two companies that manufacture communications devices for truck drivers have been dismissed from a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs injured in a 2008 accident on Interstate 40 in Buncombe County. U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell had recommended that Geologic Solutions, Inc.'s and Xata Corporation's 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss be allowed because the plaintiffs failed to state a recognized cause [...]
Wreck that killed mother and child nets $1.08M settlement
A North Carolina mother and child were killed in a 2009 commercial truck crash. There were allegations of truck driver inattention and contributory negligence against the mother. The grandmother of minor child was the sole heir to both estates. Mediated Settlement Report Injuries alleged: Death Case name: Confidential Case number: Confidential Court: Confidential Judge: Confidential […]
Jury discounts contrib defense in trucker’s P.I. case
It was a cold day in December 2008 when Mike Sprinkle backed his tanker truck up to the loading dock at an asphalt plant in Greensboro and, like he had done many times before, climbed a ladder to the top of the truck and guided a pipe into an opening for a refill. An employee of the plant, Hammaker East, told Sprinkle that the pipes were clogged and it would be a short while before the asphalt sta[...]
Nurse injured in Durham Freeway wreck settles case for $850,000
Defendant-truck driver was driving a 2003 Freightliner tractor pulling an enclosed van semi-trailer north/northwest on N.C. 147 in Durham. Plaintiff Jane Doe, age 60 and an oncology nurse at Duke University Medical Center, was driving her 2000 Toyota Camry on N.C. 147 directly ahead of and in the same direction as the tractor-trailer rig. Plaintiff […]
Mother, children settle claim for $725K after wreck with dump truck
Plaintiffs, a 47-year-old mother, her 11-year-old daughter and her 7-year-old son, were struck by a dump truck on the driver’s side of their minivan as the plaintiff-mother attempted to turn left on a green turn arrow from a multi-lane road to a multi-lane road in Wake County. Plaintiffs alleged that defendant Paylor, trying to keep […]
Tort/Negligence – Personal Injury – Respondeat Superior – Truck Driver – Off Course – Company Policy Violations
Allen v. Werner Enterprises, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-04-1120, 14 pp.) (Martin Reidinger, J.) W.D.N.C. Holding: Where plaintiff’s unconsciousness rendered him unable to remember the accident, defendant’s former employee could not be located, and defendant showed that its former employee was significantly off course and in violation of numerous company policies at the time of [&helli[...]
Workers’ Compensation – Causation – Truck Driver – Stroke – Accident – Concussion – Seizure
Rawls v. Yellow Roadway Corp. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-08-1034, 13 pp.) (Danny Lee McDonald, Commissioner) Appealed from Opinion & Award of Deputy Commissioner George T. Glenn II. I.C. No. 510497. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: Plaintiff suffered a stroke while driving a truck for defendant, leading to a single-vehicle accident. […]
Insurance – Commercial Auto – Truck Driver – Wrongful Death – Maine Law – Duty to Defend
Huber Engineered Woods, LLC v. Canal Insurance Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-06-0976, 2 pp.) (Per Curiam) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court. (Jesse B. Caldwell III, J.) On appeal from the N.C. Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: For the reasons stated by Judge Steelman […]
Top Legal News
- O’Connor paved way for women on high court
- New laws toughen penalties for rioting, power station attacks
- Judge dismisses environmental racism lawsuit
- Former US ambassador arrested in counterintelligence probe
- O’Connor, first woman on US Supreme Court, has died at 93
- Judicial activists subpoena vote splits Judiciary Committee
- Judges block GOP’s election board changes
- Federal judge blocks first TikTok app ban
- Wisconsin unions sue to reverse bargaining limits
- Justices seem doubtful of SEC’s authority
- $120M judgment entered against failed dam’s owner
- Minneapolis stores where Floyd was killed sue city
Commentary
- Name game can end up being blame game
- Stericycle decision forces evaluation of policies, practices
- Are workplace DEI policies still legal after SCOTUS decisions?
- N.C. justices to decide many interesting cases
- Amotion sees resurgence after almost a decade
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Court’s term was rough on big business
- Ex-president, bar association have made their choice
- Ruling sharpens boundaries in attorney-client privilege
- Lawyers Weekly debuts new and improved web experience
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
