Jones v. Weaver

$1.1M Settlement

Date of Settlement: Nov. 7.

Court and Case No.: U.S. Dist. Court, M.D. Pa. No. 3:16-cv-01241-RDM.

Type of Action: Motor vehicle, wrongful death, workplace negligence.

Injuries: Death.

Plaintiffs Counsel: Marion K. Munley and John M. Mulcahey, Munley Law.

Plaintiffs Experts: Kevin T. Johnson, accident reconstruction, Zionsville, Indiana; Wendy A. Lavezzi, pathology, Leesburg; Andrew C. Verzilli, economics; Lansdale; Anthony Jakicic, tow trucks, Springdale; Christopher G. Shapley, automotive; Bedford, New Hampshire.

Defense Counsel: E. Patrick Heffron,The Chartwell Law Offices, Scranton.

Defense Experts: Bruce Wainer, pathology; Columbus, Ohio; Steven M. Schorr, accident reconstruction, Abington.

Comment:

During the evening of Jan. 16, 2015, plaintiff's decedent Gregory Jones, 49, a commercial driver, was crushed to death by towing equipment on Guiton Road, in Middletown Township. Jones' wife, plaintiff Terri Jones, sued equipment-operator Charles Weaver and his employer, Somerset Regional Water Resources LLC, alleging negligence.

Jones was hauling a heater that he was delivering to a fracking site when his pickup truck became disabled in a ditch, due to snow and ice. The fracking site dispatched Somerset Regional Water Resources to assist Jones, and Somerset in turn sent Weaver to help Jones. Weaver used a grader, a large tractor with a blade attached to its rear, to extract Jones' truck from the ditch. The ditch was at the bottom of an incline. Weaver drove the grader in reverse on the incline to attach a chain to the back of the grader and Jones' truck. Jones stood by his truck as Weaver did this. As Weaver was driving in reverse, the grader slid down the incline due to the snow and ice and struck Jones, pinning him against his truck and killing him.

The estate's expert in towing, in his report, determined that this was a preventable accident. The expert maintained that it was improper to use a grader as a towing mechanism, and that a customary recovery and winching system should have been used instead. Weaver was also negligent for failing to put the grader's rear blade down when he drove down the incline, and this was a clear violation of the operator's manual, the expert determined. Moreover, Weaver did not have the proper training to perform this type of towing. According to the expert, Weaver had been trained to tow on well-pad roads at drilling sites, and had not been trained to perform towing on a narrow steep terrain made of dirt and gravel and snow and ice.

In his report, the estate's expert in automotive engineering, who ruled out any mechanical failure of the grader, concluded that Weaver's failure to follow the instructions set forth in the operator's manual resulted in the accident. Weaver admitted that he did not put the grader's blade down before descending the incline.

In his report, the estate's expert in accident reconstruction determined the 20 percent grade of the road, the reduced coefficient of friction due to the wintry conditions, the low visibility created by the nighttime conditions and Weaver's failure to drop the blade, created a hazardous condition for the towing operation and resulted in the fatal accident.

The defense maintained that Jones was contributorily negligent for the accident. In his report, the defense's expert in accident reconstruction faulted Jones for putting himself at risk by standing in close proximity to the grader as Weaver was operating it. Additionally, Jones was wearing dark-colored clothing, which made it difficult for Weaver to see, in the already low-visibility conditions. The expert concluded that Weaver's failure to put down the grader blade was not the contributing factor to the accident, and that it was Jones who was 100 percent liable.

Jones was pronounced dead at the scene. It was determined that he suffered multiple abrasions, ecchymosis, contusions, soft-tissue hemorrhage, multiple rib fractures, a fractured sternum, a fractured vertebral column at T12, a right lung parenchymal hemorrhage, hemothoraces and a focal subarachnoid hemorrhage. He is survived by a wife and a son. Jones' estate sought to recover a workers' compensation lien of $163,111.99. The estate's expert in economics, in his report, calculated $1,103,948 to $1,234,614 in future lost earnings, and $189,077 for loss of services.

In her report, the estate's expert in pathology opined that Jones was conscious and aware of what was happening to him from the start of the crash sequence until several minutes after his chest compression leading up to his death. The expert determined that Jones suffered extreme pain and suffering and severe mental suffering. His estate sought to recover damages under the Wrongful Death and Survival act.

In his report, the defense's expert in pathology opined that Jones suffered no conscious pain and suffering. According to the expert, Jones, upon being struck by the grader, hyperextended his neck, which resulted in a subarachnoid injury or stroke causing immediate death.

The parties negotiated a pretrial settlement. Somerset Regional Water Resources' insurer agreed to pay a total of $1.1 million. The primary insurer tendered its policy, which provided $1 million of coverage, and the excess insurer agreed to pay $100,000, from a policy that provided $10 million of coverage.

This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs' counsel. Defense counsel did not respond to the reporter's phone calls.

—This report first appeared in VerdictSearch, an ALM publication.