Accident Caused by Tire From Semi Settles $950,000 Case
A loose tire from a tractor-trailer caused an accident, leading to a $950,000 settlement for two Missourians.
“Most people don’t walk away from that impact,” said attorney John M. Simon. “They did.”
Simon’s clients, John Haislip and Katrina Ormsby, were injured when a set of wheels came off a truck driven by Walter Izquierdo for Monze Enterprises and/or Seven Corners Logistics, Inc.
Haislip required surgical fusion for lower back issues, whereas Ormsby had a soft tissue shoulder problem. A third person in the vehicle was uninjured.
The defendants did not admit liability, but they acknowledged that the wheel should not have come off. They could not locate maintenance records for the vehicle.
“It was kind of a double-edged sword because we couldn’t prove that it was in a defective condition because we didn’t have the records,” Simon said, “but the good thing about filing the case in Illinois was that we had a claim for spoilation.”
Though the accident occurred in Missouri, the suit was filed in Chicago’s Cook County Court, where the trucking company is based.
“The only thing we had in the case was one picture taken by the driver which we used to show our spoliation claim,” he noted. “We had to show they knew a potential claim was possible. We established that by saying, ‘Hey, he got out and took pictures for the claim — to make a property damage claim’.”
The photos showed that the wheel was heavily rusted.
Zack Fletcher, representing the defendants, did not return a request for comment.
