Last summer, Tracy Morgan and four of his fellow comedians were driving home on the New Jersey Turnpike when a Walmart truck slammed into their limo. The limo flipped over, killing Morgan’s longtime friend, James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, and gravely injuring Morgan and four others. In July, Morgan sued Walmart, contending that the retail giant knew that the truck driver hadn’t had nearly enough rest and therefore had no business being behind the wheel. Yesterday, Walmart and Morgan announced that they had agreed to a settlement of a lawsuit that could have potentially been a major black eye for the world’s biggest retailer.
Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. However, as part of the press release announcing the settlement, Morgan said that Walmart “did right by me and my family,” as well as the other plaintiffs in the case–comedian Ardie Fuqua, Morgan’s personal assistant Jeffrey Millea, and Millea’s wife Krista. Millea and Fuqua had been injured in the crash, while Krista Millea was suing for “loss of consortium,” or loss of some benefits of her relationship with Jeffrey; at the time of the crash, she was eight months pregnant. Walmart’s U. S. CEO, said that Walmart had been committed from the beginning to “doing what’s right” for Morgan and the other plaintiffs.
Morgan’s attorney, Benedict Morelli, said that as part of the settlement, Walmart had taken “full responsibility” for the accident. He discussed the settlement on this morning’s edition of “Today.” Watch here.
Earlier this spring, Walmart agreed to pay McNair’s kids $10 million in a separate settlement.
That’s a welcome change from Walmart’s initial response, which claimed that since Morgan wasn’t buckled up, he didn’t deserve to get a penny because he failed to exercise “ordinary care” and “reasonable conduct.” Never mind that the truck’s driver, Kevin Roper, had been awake for at least 25 hours straight. According to the initial complaint, Roper drove from his home in Jonesboro, Georgia to a distribution center in Smyrna, Delaware on the night before the crash–a drive of 750 miles over 11 hours. He’d been on the clock for 13.5 hours and behind the wheel for 9.5 hours; under federal work regulations, he could only be on the clock for another half hour.
Do the math–that means Roper had been up for at least 25 hours straight. For that reason, he is facing charges of death by vehicle and assault by vehicle; in New Jersey, it’s against the law for you to get behind the wheel if you’ve been up for 24 hours. But even without that to consider, there is no defensible reason for someone to be behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler without a decent amount of rest. If this had gone to trial, Walmart would have essentially asked us to believe that even though Roper had no business behind the wheel, since Morgan wasn’t buckled up, he was out of luck. If I were a juror, I’d feel insulted.
Even without that to consider, Morgan’s attorneys had amassed evidence that Walmart frequently allows its drivers to flout federal regulations regarding work hours and time behind the wheel. Walmart would have had to have a death wish if it had allowed its work practices to go under the microscope. All things considered, Walmart really had no choice but to agree to this settlement. It’s very likely that the amount of this settlement and the deal with McNair’s kids will essentially amount to a rounding error in Walmart’s sales figures–chump change compared to what it would have had to pay had Morgan won.
Morgan had suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the crash, and Morelli had said that it was very much in the air whether he’d ever be able to perform again. However, he appears to be recovering very well; earlier today, People magazine spotted him walking out of a rehab facility in New York City in “good spirits.” He’s due to make his first public appearance since the crash on Monday morning’s edition of “Today,” in an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer. Here’s hoping Morgan makes a full recovery.
