Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Wal-Mart, Liberty Mutual settle lawsuits over 2014 Tracy Morgan crash

Reprints
Wal-Mart, Liberty Mutual settle lawsuits over 2014 Tracy Morgan crash

(Reuters) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has settled a lawsuit by two Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. units that sought to avoid covering its multi-million-dollar payout to comedian Tracy Morgan for injuries he suffered in a 2014 crash involving one of the retailer’s trucks.

U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton, New Jersey, on Monday ordered the dismissal of all claims against Wal-Mart by Ohio Casualty Insurance and Liberty Insurance Underwriters, and all counterclaims by Wal-Mart against the insurers.

Terms of the settlement are confidential, and both sides agreed not to bring their claims again.

“We are pleased to have resolved this matter,” Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said in an email.

The accord came about three months after the insurers had sought permission to question Mr. Morgan and another injured passenger, Ardley Fuqua, to help them determine whether Wal-Mart paid too much.

Lawyers for the insurers and Boston-based Liberty Mutual did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Mr. Morgan and Mr. Fuqua referred a reporter to an outside spokesman, who had no immediate comment.

Mr. Morgan, a former star of "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock," was seriously injured on June 7, 2014, when a Wal-Mart truck crashed into his limousine van on the New Jersey Turnpike.

His friend, comedian James McNair, was killed in the crash, and other passengers also suffered injuries.

The truck driver had been awake for more than 24 hours when the crash occurred. He pleaded guilty last November to vehicular homicide under a plea agreement that let him avoid prison time, according to published reports.

Wal-Mart’s payouts to Mr. Morgan and Mr. Fuqua have not been disclosed, but court documents suggest that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer might have paid more than $90 million.

That was based on a reported $10 million settlement that Wal-Mart reached in early 2015 with Mr. McNair’s children, and subsequent court papers saying that more than 90% of Wal-Mart’s total payout were for Mr. Morgan’s and Mr. Fuqua’s claims.

Mr. Morgan suffered a broken leg and ribs and what his lawyer has called a “traumatic brain injury” in the crash. He has since returned to performing.

 

 

Read Next

  • Trucker who hit Tracy Morgan's van was following federal rules: Wal-Mart

    The Wal-Mart Stores Inc. truck driver charged in connection with the fatal crash that also seriously injured comedian Tracy Morgan was working hours that were within federal guidelines to the company's knowledge, said the retailer, despite reports he had been driving for more than 24 hours, which is far beyond those guidelines.