Miller vs. Pilchuck Contractors
In November, 1999, Martin Miller was employed as a full-time commercial truck driver for a local trucking company, a job he had been doing for about twenty years. On November 16, 1999, Mr. Miller was assigned to deliver a load of plastic pipe to a construction site. At the site, while he was on one side of the truck, loosing a strap holding down the load, an employee of a contractor at the site volunteered to help, and, without letting Mr. Miller know, loosened the straps on the other side of the truck and of the load. The plastic pipe now had nothing to hold it in place, and the pipe rolled off the truck, striking Mr. Miller on the head. He lost consciousness for a minute, and suffered head wounds. Once he was taken to the hospital, he was diagnosed with scalp lacerations, a closed head injury, and cervical strain.
Mr. Miller subsequently started to suffer from extremely severe headaches, double vision, and dizzy spells. He also started experiencing temporary black-outs, that forced him to stop driving truck in December, 1999; he was never able to drive a truck again. Mr. Miller underwent a number of examinations and tests by different medical specialists over the following months, to identify the cause of his continuing vision problems, headaches, and blackouts. Ultimately, it was determined that he had suffered a significant brain injury, causing him continuing posttraumatic headaches, chronic double vision, lapses in memory, and decreases in hearing, smell and taste. He was no longer able to pursue his truck driving career, and had limited other options, given his education and work experience.
The defendant contractor contested liability, and litigation was commenced. Marler Clark investigated the accident facts and retained experts in the trucking industry to assess the actions of the various people involved, establishing the evidence of the negligence of the contractor’s employee. In addition, Marler Clark assisted Mr. Miller in his period of rehabilitation and physical and mental recovery by ensuring that he was treated by the appropriate doctors, and that he received the maximum benefits available. Ultimately, after months of litigation, the case was settled for the amount of $550,000.