Jiang v. Bala Motorsports

$750,000 Settlement

Date of Verdict: March 23.

Court and Case No.: C.P. Philadelphia No. 03732.

Type of Action: Wrongful death.

Injuries: Death.

Plaintiffs Counsel: Anthony Baratta, Baratta, Russell & Baratta, Huntingdon Valley.

Defense Counsel: Robert Stroh, Hohn & Scheuerle, Philadelphia.

Comment:

A tow truck company and the family of a pedestrian struck and killed by one of the company's trucks in Lower Merion Township have settled the resulting lawsuit for $750,000.

The lawsuit, filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, stated Bala Motorsports tow truck driver Farran Haynes struck and killed 72-year-old Huiqing Jiang and fled the scene. Haynes pleaded guilty to the related criminal charges in Montgomery County in 2017 and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.

The case was settled during mediation conducted by JAMS mediator Jerry Roscoe. Bala's attorney, Robert Stroh of Hohn & Scheuerle in Philadelphia, did not respond to a request for comment. The attorney representing Jiang's estate, Anthony Baratta of Baratta, Russell & Baratta in Huntingdon Valley, praised the mediator.

"Focus groups had been placing some responsibility on our client so we knew we were facing a reduction for comparative negligence," Baratta said in an email. "Robert Lynch, P.E. of DJS Associates, who had replaced Steve Schorr, P.E. who died during the pendency of our case, did a masterful job explaining why the Bala tow truck operator could have seen our client in time to avoid striking him, despite the conditions."

The lawsuit cited Haynes' guilt plea prominently. It also claimed that Haynes had enough time to see Jiang and move out of the way. The plaintiffs also alleged flaws in Bala's hiring and training processes, which failed to catch an accident on Haynes' driving record and require him to provide previous employment references.

According to the plaintiff's mediation memorandum, the defendants failed to enforce the 11-hour limit on consecutive hours driven by employees without 10 hours off between runs.

"On the day that Mr. Jiang was killed, Mr. Haynes, per the regulations, was limited to driving his tow truck a maximum of 11 hours after first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. There exists Teletrac GPS data for all of Bala's trucks," the plaintiff's memorandum said. "The data from this GPS proves that on Dec. 2, 2016, Jiang was struck by the truck driven by Haynes and it was more than 14 hours after Haynes reported to his vehicle that morning."

However, in their mediation memorandum, the defendants argued that Haynes was not the driver who struck Jiang.

According to the defendants, Haynes thought it was better to plead guilty than to face a stiffer sentence if convicted.

"Before pleading guilty he was told that he could be imprisoned for 10 years, and that the cost of trial would cause his family to incur overwhelming debt. By pleading guilty, he could be released in 22 months, and his family would not go into debt. Given the risks, he decided to plead guilty," according to the memorandum.

—P.J. D'Annunzio, of the Law Weekly