In the wreck between the dump truck that ran a red light and the oncoming Houston Metro train, Houston Metro spokesman Jerome Gray took care to distance Houston Transit from the driver of the dump truck. It’s important to note that the dump truck driver, Paniagua Espino, was employed to haul sand for a project related to the construction of the Metro’s East End light rail line. So, in essence, Espino worked for the very transit agency whose train he wrecked on Tuesday morning.
But Jerome Gray carefully disclaimed responsibility by saying that a firm hired by a subcontractor of Houston Rapid Transit employed Espino. That chain of contractors may not be enough to save Houston Rapid Transit from legal liability for the dump truck-train wreck and the injuries it caused.
Recent years have seen a reaction by the courts against employers that would negligently hire the cheapest available labor without regard to safety. Many times, the ultimate employers don’t even check who’s hired further down the chain or the status of their safety records. Then, when these carelessly hired employees cause injuries through a reckless disregard for others’ safety, the ultimate employer tries to hide behind the chain of subcontractors.
In a case rapidly becoming a landmark in accident liability law, Davies v. Commercial Metals Company, the court’s opinion laid out some parameters for ultimate employer liability. The opinion and commentary stated that “an employer is liable for physical harm to third persons caused by …failure to exercise reasonable care to employ a competent and careful contractor …to do work which will involve a risk of physical harm unless it is carefully and skillfully done, or to perform any duty which the employer owes to third persons.” The court further stated that operation of a large truck upon the roads carried such a risk of physical harm.
Since the FMCSA website records extensive data on a trucker’s qualifications and prior safety record (or lack of same), an employer’s failure to look into this easily accessible information appears particularly egregious.
So, when you’re injured in a Houston wreck caused by a reckless (but not wreckless) trucker, you need to hire an experienced Houston truck wreck lawyer at once to begin investigating. He could examine the ultimate employer’s knowledge of, efforts to gain knowledge of, or complete ignorance and disregard of, the trucker’s prior safety record and qualifications for the job. If you’re injured by a reckless truck driver’s actions, call us today for a free legal consultation and case evaluation. We could help you hold the trucker and his ultimate employer financially accountable for their disregard of your safety.