Brigette Honaker  |  June 21, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Cumberland Farms Must Pay $20M Award In Car Accident Lawsuit, Appeals Court SaysA $20 million award was recently upheld in a car accident lawsuit after an appeals court panel found the trial judge was justified in allowing the jury to consider additional evidence.

A panel in the Massachusetts appeals court recently upheld the decision of a trial judge in a car accident lawsuit, allowing the plaintiff to recover a $20 million award. The car accident lawsuit, filed by plaintiff Albert D., accused Cumberland Farms of being at fault for the accident which killed his wife Kimmy D.

In the original trial, the judge allowed the jury to consider a 2010 report which showed that there had been 485 accidents at various Cumberland Farms stores between the years of 1990 and 2010. Cumberland challenged this, claiming that the judge abused his discretion. The company requested an appeal and a new trial based on the grounds that the jury allegedly acted out of emotion instead of logic.

A panel of the Massachusetts appeals court denied Cumberland Farms’ requests, finding that the judge did not abuse his discretion and upholding the previous trial decision. The panel also found that the emotional influence of the report was addressed by the judge who reduced the trial verdict from $32 million to $20 million.

“The judge did not abuse his discretion when he decided that uncontrolled car strikes, rather than the precise reason for the car strikes, were relevant to the jury’s consideration of whether the risk was foreseeable and whether Cumberland Farms was aware of that risk,” the panel stated regarding the car accident lawsuit.

Albert filed his car accident lawsuit against Cumberland Farms after his wife died while walking into one of the company’s stores. Kimmy was hit by an SUV while walking into the store after the vehicle had sped across an apex intersection, through the entrance of the store’s parking lot, and into the store façade. Kimmy was killed instantly.

The report shown in the trial included documentation of many accidents where drivers had lost control of their vehicle and struck the front of a Cumberland Farms store. Reasons for the collision include brake failure, brake and accelerator pedal confusion, intoxication, inexperience, and inattention. In his car accident lawsuit, Albert claimed that Cumberland Farms should have installed barriers to prevent the foreseeable accidents.

Albert filed his car accident lawsuit, alleging negligence and gross negligence by Cumberland Farms led to Kimmy’s death. Cumberland Farms responded to the car accident lawsuit, claiming that they could not be held liable since the accident was random and unforeseeable due to a similar accident never occurring at the location. The company also refuted the car accident lawsuit claiming that barriers or other measures would not have been effective in stopping the car due to its high speed.

After a 9 day trial, the jury found Cumberland Farms negligent and awarded Albert $32.3 million in damages. The judge acknowledged that emotional partiality played a role in the jury’s decision and decreased the damages to $20 million which Albert accepted.

The Car Accident Lawsuit is Case No. 17-P-266 in the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

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