Alleged discovery dodges and the threat of punitive damages have resulted in a $6.4 million settlement for the family of a man who burned to death in a tractor-trailer collision near the Route 202 exit ramps of the Schuylkill Expressway.
Ostroff Villari & Kusturiss partners Paul D. Brandes and Peter M. Villari, who represented the wife of accident victim Jeffrey Shober, said the defendant trucking company in Ottaviano v. Werner Enterprises Inc. drove the nails into its own coffin by failing to properly investigate the accident involving its driver; claiming that a computer glitch prevented it from turning over records regarding the location of the tractor-trailer involved in the collision during the minutes leading up to the accident; refusing to turn over statements made by the driver of the tractor-trailer; and declining to preserve records after being put on notice that information would be requested by representatives of the parties involved in the crash.
