The situation of a student killed by a trucker raises several important considerations for employers who have employees driving any vehicle on the road. This article contains important information. We have summarized the main points of the article, encourage you to read the article in its entirety and have provided comments in certain sections below.
Parents of the Northern Kentucky University graduate want an Ohio law to require truck drivers who cause deaths to be tested for impairment. They also want a jury trial for a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver who hit him and the driver’s employer. [R&A Comment – this blog post describes the tort of respondeat superior which makes the employer liable for actions of an employee while performing job duties.]
Driver sentenced to house arrest. The family spoke out just two days after RFS Group Inc. driver David Pluidze earned a sentence of 30 days on house arrest and $750 fine in the case. He had pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor vehicular homicide charge. In court, Pluidze said he had a medical condition that caused him to lose consciousness behind the wheel. [R&A Comment – Employers should conduct communications with their employees and encourage them to advise them of any medical conditions that would adversely affect their ability to perform job.]
“The judge didn’t suspend his license,” Leffler’s mother, Shannon Ponder, said at a Wednesday press conference in Cincinnati. “I don’t understand how you don’t suspend someone’s license when they just told you that they’ve caused a fatality because they have a medical condition.”
Leffler died because Pluidze was “careless and negligent,” driving too fast and failing to control his truck, according to the lawsuit. The family filed the suit in June in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, where RFS Group Inc., then Pluidze’s employer, maintains its headquarters in West Chicago.
RFS did not return a call seeking comment. Pluidze, who the Lefflers said is now driving for a different employer, could not be located for comment.
James P. Randisi, President of Randisi & Associates, Inc., has been helping employers protect their clients, workforce and reputation through implementation of employment screening and drug testing programs since 1999. This post does not constitute legal advice. Randisi & Associates, Inc. is not a law firm. Always contact competent employment legal counsel. To learn more about the rights of employees who test positive for marijuana, Mr. Randisi can be contacted by phone at 410.494.0232 or Email: info@randisiandassociates.com or the website at Randisiandassociates.com
