Worker driving truck accidentally causes injury to co-worker after celebration at workplace

In a recent case, the daughter of a deceased employee sued the employer and several employees based on negligence, failure to train, and premises liability. She obtained a jury verdict awarding over $4 million in damages.

Toward the end of 2013, Rudolph Automotive, LLC – doing business as Rudolph Mazda and Rudolph Chevrolet – was aiming for strong year-end results by making its sales team work 11-hour shifts or longer six days a week. One day, the two sales employees involved in this case, Irma Villegas and Christian Ruiz, finished their work and clocked out shortly after 8:00 p.m.

Their sales manager, seeking to improve morale through an end-of-day celebration, asked Ruiz to buy beer at the manager’s expense. The employees drank beer within the employer’s premises after the customers were gone.

The manager sent the employees home. Villegas first walked to her car then to a different area of the dealership. Ruiz, who was driving toward the exit in his truck, struck her in the parking lot. The accident seriously harmed Villegas. Permanent effects included a traumatic brain injury, paralysis on one side, and a severe facial deformity.

Read more: Injured party sues employer after employee falls asleep at the wheel

Villegas had to live in a nursing home for seven years. She died in 2020. Her daughter initiated this lawsuit.

The jury’s verdict made the following findings:

• The manager...

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