April 10 2008 - Trucking Company Refuses to Pay Compensation for Man's Death
April 10, 2008 - : Early one sunny morning in February of 2006, Ronald was out for a casual walk in Oakland, where he lived. He was on a public sidewalk when suddenly, a passing 18-wheeler truck jumped the curb and ran him down, killing him. Now, two years after the tragic event, his three daughters have filed a
wrongful death lawsuit against the company that owned the truck, Foston Trucking of Oakland, CA, claiming that it was negligence on the part of the company that resulted in their father's death.
Ronald's daughters filed the lawsuit against Foston Trucking because the company denied their claim for compensation, stating that Ronald was unemployed at the time he was killed, that he had a previous criminal record, and that none of his daughters were minors. Feeling that they had no other recourse, Ronald's daughters filed the suit, which asks for an unspecified amount of damages.
Their father was out walking adjacent to the East Bay Municipal Utilities District in Oakland on that fateful morning. After the truck ran over Ronald, it continued on to crash through the wrought iron fence surrounding the municipal utilities district. Initially, the Oakland police officers who arrived at the scene didn't know that anyone was underneath the truck. However, when they looked under the front axle they found Ronald, who had been impaled through the chest by the wrought iron fence.
Had the driver not noticed he had hit and killed a man? The man who was allegedly driving the truck at the time, claimed that his truck had been 'carjacked' just hours before the accident. However, the police noted in their report that the truck driver admitted to drinking alcohol and snorting cocaine just a few hours prior to climbing behind the wheel of his rig. Blood tests were done which subsequently confirmed that the driver had both alcohol and cocaine in his system at the time of the accident.
The girls' attorney stated that Foston Trucking Company, by denying their claim for compensation, is essentially saying that in losing their father, they lost nothing of value. And to make matters worse, the trucking company is standing by the story their driver told the police, despite his confirmed use of alcohol and cocaine.
Without legal help, it is unlikely that Ronald's daughters would receive even an apology. Thanks to the careless actions of the driver of the truck, their lives have been irreversibly changed for the worse. And the bottom line is: a person's value should not be determined by whether he or she was employed, had a criminal background, or had only minor children. This man's life and everything it meant to his daughters was taken from him wrongfully, by the negligent misconduct of another, and that is what matters when it comes to determining compensation.
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