Widow of truck driver files wrongful death lawsuit against employer, others
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the widow of a trucker who was killed while driving on Interstate 79 in Greene County.
Attorneys Peter D. Friday, Jesse A. Drumm and Richard L. Manilla filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Gloria A. Snyder of Weston, West Virginia, the executrix of the estate of Michael J. Snyder, 48, of Weston.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit were Tiller Well Services LLC, Octane Trucking LLC, WireCo Worldgroup Inc., Nomac Services LLC and Phillip A. Hull.
The suit states that on May 1, 2017, Michael Snyder, a tractor-trailer driver with Tiller Well Services was driving a 2007 International Harvester Model TT 80000, which was owned and registered to Octane Trucking, northbound along I-79 in Perry Township.
He was hauling a load that consisted of a spool of drill-line cable and a cradle designed and manufactured by WireCo weighing approximately 27,000 pounds. The the cable and cradle were loaded in Mount Morris by Nomac Services and was being transported to a well site in Ohio.
Michael Snyder was traveling north on the roadway in the left lane, according to the suit, and when he attempted to negotiate a right-hand curve, the load suddenly began swaying back and forth and became unstable.
Due to the load’s improper center of gravity, the vehicle “suddenly and violently” traveled off the roadway and into the grassy median, the suit claimed.
There, the load separated from the trailer, causing the tractor to roll onto its right side. During the rollover, the trailer became dislodged and landed on the driver side cab of the tractor, collapsing the cab and crushing Michael Snyder, according to the suit.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The lawsuit contends that all the defendants allegedly failed to adequately perform their duties in a prudent manner in multiple ways.
That included allowing the vehicle to be in a hazardous and dangerous state of disrepair for an unreasonable amount of time, causing and allowing the spool of cable and cradle to be loaded in violation of rules and regulations, providing unsafe and improper warnings and instructions for loading through transporting the load.
The estate listed damages including medical expenses, funeral costs, loss of income over the time he was expected to live and other damages.
Gloria Snyder is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the defendants in an amount permitted by the court along with court costs.