WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – A trucking company might face punitive damages for employing a driver with an “abysmal” driving record who is said to have negligently plowed into a disabled vehicle on the highway.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Abigail LeGrow denied Baldor Express Transportation’s motion for partial summary judgment on Nov. 12 in a case involving the serious injuries of plaintiff Taylor Tighe.
It happened on Interstate 95 near Newport after other drivers sideswiped each other, causing Tighe to veer left and strike another car. She put on the hazard lights and sat there for approximately four minutes when Hector Castillo failed to notice her and ran into her car.
She sued Castillo and Baldor, alleging the company failed to train or fire him despite a history of problems. The company moved for judgment on the punitive damages award, claiming neither defendant’s conduct rose to that level of recklessness.
“(S)everal other vehicles avoided colliding with Plaintiff, undermining Castillo’s assertion that he was paying attention and the collision was unavoidable,” Judge LeGrow wrote.
“Moreover, depending on the outcome of Plaintiff’s pending motion for sanctions, she may be entitled to an adverse inference instruction that Castillo did not apply his brakes at all.”
That motion for sanctions says the defendants failed to preserve data from the Engine Control Module that would have shown his speed and braking at the time of the crash.
Tighe’s lawyers say Castillo has been involved in at least seven other traffic accidents and has received 10 speeding violations. The defendants say he only has six speeding tickets and has never been found to be at fault in an accident.
“In fact, however, the record shows Castillo was involved in at least three driving incidents where a jury could conclude he was at fault,” Judge LeGrow wrote.
He’s hit an overpass with the roof of his trailer and hit animals on two occasions.
“Additionally, in the two years leading up to the accident, Castillo was cited multiple times for hours of service violations because he repeatedly exceeded the maximum hours he was permitted to be on the road between breaks or rest periods,” the decision says.
Tighe has an expert who will testify that Castillo’s driving fell below the minimum safety standards.