Posted on 05/05/2022 3:55:44 PM PDT by Morgana
The owner of a Jeep became embroiled in a legal nightmare after he handed the keys of his vehicle to a Michigan dealership where a mechanic died while working on his car.
The family of Jeffrey Hawkins, 42, is suing the Jeep owner, who has not been named, for $15million over the death of the veteran mechanic.
Hawkins, a married father-of-four, was killed on March 13, 2020, while changing the Jeep's oil at Rochester Hills Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership in Michigan.
A 19-year-old fellow mechanic, who didn't know how to drive a shift stick and did not have a driver's license, had started the car and removed his feet from the clutch causing the Jeep to jump forward.
Hawkins, who was performing an oil change at the time, was ran over and died instantly.
It is unclear why the 19-year-old mechanic was hired despite his lack of qualifications. A lawyer for the dealership declined to comment.
Under Michigan law, employees cannot sue their employers or fellow staff members for accidents that happen in the workplace.
David Femminineo, an attorney representing Hawkins' family admitted that the lawsuit 'seems unfair' but argued that the man who had taken his Jeep to the dealership is still legally liable for the tragedy.
'If you go to lunch and give your car to someone and an accident happens, you'd be liable for that. Same thing happens here,' Femminineo told DailyMail.com Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
5.56mm
Seems an absurd case to me. Sorry the guy died, but can not see how the jeep owner is at fault.
Just reapo d to all interrogatories in cursive writing. That should stall them for several years.
Sue everyone.
I suspect the claimant is suing the car owner because the family knows the owner can’t afford a long civil case whereas the dealer has more resources (insurance) for acts caused by idiot employees. In other words - suing the car owner will be easy money.
Yeah, but it is not the employee that would be suing the dealership, it is his family. So that MI rule should be bypassed. Or is the Jeep owner richer than the dealership?
Saul Goodman syndrome?
WTF? This case should never see the inside of a courtroom. What a disgrace.
Looks more like an OSHA lock out-tag out failure.
Point the family to the Fed Gooberment and let them sue the pants off the dealership.
‘If you go to lunch and give your car to someone and an accident happens, you’d be liable for that. Same thing happens here,’
Of course not. Absurd. This lawyer has gotten the idea that since so much stupidity is succeeding, he would try his own brand.
This suit won’t last five minutes in court, if it ever gets there. And the lawyer might be disbarred.
Democrats would support blaming the owner if he's rich - say makes $50,000/year.
This is an illustration of how stupid Michigan legislators are.
Stop thinking the law is about justice. It is not.
Apparently Femminineo is just another sleeze bag lawyer who just happens to run constant adds on the local channels here In Michigan.....
From the pictures it looks like the mechanic had lowered the car down on a lift, and was putting oil back in with the hood open, and the Jeep was started and driven forward smashing the guy into a tool cart up against the wall.
More info. from a USA source (Jeep owner is off the hook):
“As Femminineo explained to Jalopnik, the Hawkins family can’t directly sue the dealership or its management. Michigan workers’ compensation law says you cannot sue a fellow employee for negligence while on the job. So the Hawkins family’s only option was to sue the Jeep owner. But that doesn’t mean the Jeep owner will be held responsible for the accidental death.
According to Femminineo, when the Hawkins family filed suit against the Jeep owner, that person immediately sued the dealership for indemnification, and won. With that victory in place, whatever results from the Hawkins family’s suit against the Jeep owner will be the legal responsibility of Rochester Hills Chrysler Jeep Dodge (and their insurance company). Basically, while the owner of the Jeep is named in the suit, that person won’t face any repercussions from the trial or judgment.”
https://jalopnik.com/why-a-jeep-owner-is-being-sued-for-a-mechanics-death-du-1848884952
and
I could imagine this happening at LubePros (they left the oil cap off once, and would not accept responsibility) and Jiffy Lube (their kid condescendingly told me my car needed “European oil”. He was confused a bit by the Mercedes-Benz hood ornament installed by a previous owner, but the car was a Buick Roadmaster station wagon. I went to a different oil change place.)
Car dealerships charge a premium and are presumed to be familiar with their own cars. Standard transmissions in Jeeps are not rare.
It sounds like the dealership’s insurance will pay the bills, otherwise the car’s owner would have to sue the dealership, and that costs more for everyone.
Cars are a lot safer these days AND there are more lawyers.
So competition in ambulance chasing is intense.
Part of this problem is a shortage of trained techs.
All the dealers around my area are scrambling for useful help.
One of the Nascar cars sponsored by a dealer group has “hiring technicians” as part of the advertising on the car.
My guess is somebody decided to hire a “body”
What law school did that lawyer attend, and how did he ever graduate? First, the dealership is an independent contractor, so there’s no agency theory involved, and, next, unless the owner could reasonably foresee that the dealership employed dangerous mechanics, there is no proximate cause under negligence.
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