On November 16, Moniteau County Judge Kenneth Hayden approved a wrongful death settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of an August 2016 car crash victim.
According to the reports from Missouri Highway Patrol, the defendant was driving westbound on U.S. 50, east of the Business 50 West junction, when he cut across the center line and hit the victim's car. After the collision, both the cars caught fire, and the victim was found dead at the scene. The defendant who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident was taken to University Hospital with severe injuries.
Victim's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the defendant in February in Moniteau County. Judge Hayden approved a $100,000 settlement amount asked by the family of the deceased 20-year-old girl. The settlement amount was evenly split between the victim's parents. The defendant denied being negligent for the accident.
In another civil suit linked to the same accident, Judge Hayden approved a motion to dismiss punitive damages against two bars, Spectators and The Mission located on East High Street in Jefferson City. The victim's mother was included as a party in the lawsuit against the bars. The request for actual damages of at least $ 25,000 from each business will continue. The victim's lawsuit claimed the defendant was already intoxicated before consuming more alcohol at both the bars.
The Dram Shop Act allows victims to sue establishment serving alcohol to already drunk visitors. However, lawyers representing the Mission asserted the law does not provide punitive damages recovery; hence, it must be dismissed from the lawsuit. In their court records, the lawyers told furnishing alcohol is not the prime reason for the unfortunate accident; it was utter negligence of the defendant which led to the accident. A new hearing date for the civil case has not been issued yet.
Earlier, in September 2018, a Jefferson County jury announced a $44 million settlement to the two brothers who witnessed the death of their brother at AltairStrickland. The three brothers worked at AltairStrickland where an unfortunate incident took place and one of the brothers succumbed to death after a pipe fell on him while working. The lawsuit holds the company liable for the accident as it failed to provide adequate rescue plans and on-site medics. The company is liable to pay 45 per cent of the settlement from the $44 million. The rest of the penalty will be split among other defendants including Exxon Mobil Oil Corp., B&G Crane Service, LLC.
