Road Wreck / Corporate Liability

03/14/2006 - Confidential

Slaton v. DHL (USA) Express, Inc.; 575 N. Express, LLC; Carla Loner, State Court of Fulton County. Plaintiff Kenneth Slaton suffered catastrophic orthopedic injuries on June 13, 2003, when he was hit head on by an Airborne Express van driven by Carla Loner, in Bartow County, Georgia. Despite the facts Ms. Loner was dressed head-to-toe in an Airborne Express delivery uniform, and was driving a van emblazoned with numerous Airborne Express logos, was delivering Airborne Express packages at the time of the accident, Airborne Express (and its successor entity DHL (USA) Express) maintained it was not responsible or liable in any way for the accident. Instead, DHL/Airborne argued Ms. Loner and defendant 575 N. Express were “independent contractors.”

The firm amassed substantial evidence from former managers, drivers and ‘contractors’ of Airborne to disprove that contention and to show the level of control DHL/Airborne in fact exercised over co-defendants Loner and 575 N. Express. The firm also obtained an order from the court compelling DHL/Airborne to produce critical internal documents demonstrating the level of detail and operative control DHL/Airborne maintains over the supposed ‘independent’ contractors conducting its business. The case settled three weeks before trial. The settlement amount is confidential.