$2.5 million settlement

On June 30, 2018, JR came home with his parents and sister after attending church on Sunday and working in the soup kitchen. Several friends had come over for hors d’oeuvres and socializing.

A friend of JR’s father had come over on his brand new shiny Harley-Davidson motorcycle. JR asked the father’s friend if he would give him a motorcycle ride as he had never been on one before. The friend told him to ask his parents for permission. JR asked his dad and his dad told him to ask his mother and he did.

After some discussion, both parents agreed. It was a sunny day about 3 p.m. JR rode on the back of the cycle behind the driver, dad’s friend. After about an hour, the parents wondered where they had gone. Right at that moment the doorbell rang. A police officer was standing at the door.  He told the parents to come with him as there had been a very bad accident. The officer rushed the parents to the emergency room of the hospital where parents saw their son unconscious and under life support.

The parents were told that as the motorcycle came down a two-lane country road, CR, who was working for her employer at the time, turned left in front of the cycle whereupon the cycle could not stop and collided with her passenger side back door of the car CR was driving and owned by her employer. Both the driver of the motorcycle and JR were propelled over the car coming to lie on the pavement.

The driver received major injuries. JR never regained consciousness and died two days later of massive injuries. The distraught parents felt guilt by allowing JR to go on the motorcycle ride. Each parent blamed the other for their son’s death and required both psychiatric counseling and grief counseling. [020-T-140]