 |
| TRACY MORGAN |
“Plaintiff’s injuries, if any, were caused … by plaintiff’s failure to properly wear an appropriate available seatbelt restraint device,” the company said in court papers filed in New Jersey federal court Monday, responding to Morgan’s July lawsuit against Walmart.
“By failing to exercise ordinary care in making use of available seatbelts … plaintiff acted unreasonably and in disregard of [their] own interests.”
But the funny man’s attorney, Benedict Morelli said Walmart is way off the mark in trying to blame Morgan, 45, for the serious injuries he suffered in the crash, which left him hospitalized for weeks.
Walmart, he said, bears full responsibility for their driver smashing into the Mercedes-Benz limo carrying Morgan and several friends — killing James “Jimmy Mack” McNair and seriously injuring two other comics — because the world’s largest retailer allegedly forces drivers to log too many hours.
“After Walmart told the public and their customers that they would take full responsibility, they put responsibility on my clients and the deceased — which I think is despicable,” said Morelli, adding that it’s not known for certain whether Morgan and the other passengers were wearing seat belts.
“Tracy is struggling and struggling and he’s sitting in a wheelchair and they’re blaming him. It’s disgusting.”
Morgan was returning from a stand-up show at a casino in Delaware on June 7 when the Walmart tractor-trailer slammed into his limo.
Authorities blamed the crash on truck driver Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Ga.
He was driving 20 mph over the speed limit, had fallen asleep at the wheel and had been awake for more than 24 hours before the crash, according to the assault and death-by-auto charges against him.
Roper has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Walmart stonewalls in much of its response, repeating over and over again that it is “unable to admit or deny” various allegations made by Morgan.
No comments:
Post a Comment