GENESEO, NY — A jury has awarded three victims of a Jan. 29, 2005 accident involving a tractor-trailer and the sleep-deprived driver of a bus carrying a Canadian girls hockey team.
The $2.25 million settlement stems from the first of several damages trials against the Erie Coach Line company following the crash, which claimed the lives of four, including three bus passengers and the driver of an illegally-parked tractor-trailer.
The bus, carrying the touring “Windsor Wildcats” team from Ontario, plowed into the rear of the truck, driven by Ernest Zeiset, Jr.
Zeiset had parked his truck on the side of I-390. The suit claimed he did not turn on his flashers. He was standing outside his truck at the time of the collision and killed instantly.
Bus driver Ryan Comfort, an inexperienced driver who held a second job in Canada, denied falling asleep at the wheel. He told investigators he had struck debris in the highway, causing him to swerve. Comfort was fined $480 in Geneseo Town Court for log book and moving violations.
According to Ivan Alexander of the Seeger Weiss law firm, the six-day trial resulted in damages awarded to three victims — players Carly Labadie and Tory Gault, both mid-20s, and assistant coach Jason Mailloux, 35. In addition to orthopedic injuries sustained, all three were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the crash.
After about four hours of deliberation on March 8, the six-person jury awarded Labadie $1 million ($500,000 for both past and future pain and suffering); Mailloux $750,000 ($375,000 for both past and future pain and suffering); and Gault $500,000 ($250,000 for both past and future pain and suffering).
In the liability phase of the case last June, plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that Comfort was negligently trained and supervised by defendant bus company Coach Canada. As a result of parties’ stipulation, Coach Canada assumes legal responsibility for 90 percent of the accident, and the tractor-trailer defendants, including J&J Hauling Inc., is liable for the remaining 10 percent.
