Suing a Trucking Company After an Accident

Answer:

I had a recent case where a tractor trailer pulled out from an intersection and just turned right across my client’s car. Even though it wasn’t high speed, it was still a pretty violent collision just because of the weight, the inertia, the truck, and it caused my client some injuries. The client asked me, when we started pursuing the claim, a question that I think is on a lot of people’s minds when they’re dealing with a tractor trailer case or a case involving any type of commercial vehicle or trucking — Can we pursue a claim or sue the trucking company that the driver was working for at the time? The answer to that question is yes. In fact, in most tractor trailer or trucking cases, we’re going to want to pursue the claim against that trucking company, in addition to naming the driver.

The reason for that is, in Mississippi, we have a legal theory that allows recovery for claims when an employee is acting in the course and scope of their employment and they cause injury to someone. The person who was injured can pursue a claim against that employer. It’s an old legal term called respondeat superior. Basically, what it means is that you can hold liability against the person that that agent is working for. When that agent or that employee is working for a company or working for an employer and they’re acting on behalf of that employer in the course of their employment and someone gets injured, that liability flows up to the employer. If a driver is employed by a trucking company and that driver is on duty, and his actions while driving that truck for the trucking company causes harm to someone else, the trucking company has some liability for that under this legal theory of respondeat superior. Oftentimes, just as a practical matter, both the driver and the company would be named in the lawsuit, although sometimes it’s not necessarily to name the driver. Sometimes, just one or the other is named, but most of the time both parties are going to be included in the lawsuit, and that liability is going to flow up to the company; that driver is going to be covered under the company’s policy. If the company is self-insured, the company is going to be liable for those damages. So, the answer to that question is yes. A truck driver involved in a wreck, where the truck driver or 18-wheeler driver is at fault, means you can pursue a claim against the company that they’re working for. With this question, like all others, the Brad Morris Law Firm is here to answer those questions and to provide a free consult on your claim or case. We’re here to help.