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Widow Sues Trucker and Wins $3.25-Million In Sleep-Apnea Case
Posted: Mar 1, 2012 11:32 AM | Last Updated: Apr 2, 2012 12:11 PM

TORONTO — Think the sleep apnea issue can remain on your back burner? Celadon sure knows better.

A Texas widow recently won a $3.25-million lawsuit against the carrier, claiming that the driver in the Celadon truck that collided with her car was a sleep-apnea sufferer. Furthermore, he had been fired from a previous job because he refused to have as sleep-apnea test.

The lawsuit was filed in Dallas County District Court and the award was announced in mid-December.

According to local media reports, Wanda Lindsay and her husband John were stopped at a construction zone near Texarcana when they were rear-ended by an 18-wheeler. Evidence showed that the trucker was in cruise and traveling at about 65 mph. Mr. Lindsay died as a result of the crash.

After the crash, Lindsay’s lawyer Jim Cole testified that the truck driver had severe uncontrolled sleep apnea and had tried to gain employment with 30 other companies before being hired by Celadon. Cole also acknowledged that the settlement marks the first time a trucking company has acknowledged that sleep apnea might have contributed to a crash involving a death.

Sleep apnea is growing into one of the trucking industry’s most pressing issues. And on Tuesday, March 6, the Toronto Trucking Association is sponsoring a special information session on the problem.

Called “Asleep at the Wheel, Can You Imagine?” the session is open to both members and non-members. For more information, click here.

 
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ALBERT

2013/03/21

at 2:18 AM

Rating
0
8
8
IT ISNT SLEEP APNEA ITS THAT THE DRIVER KNOWINGLY DROVE IMPAIRED, IF YOU GET SO TIRED YOUR PING PONGING OR WANTING TO SLEEP U JUST PULL OVER AND DO IT!!!YOU DONT HAVE TO TELL ANYONE YOUR JUST TOO TIRED, YOU CAN SAY THE ROADS CLOSED BECAUSE OF A WRECK, CONSTRUCTION ETC!!AND SEND DELAY MESSAGES AND NO 1 CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!! IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOUR DISPATCH SAYS OR WHAT YOU HAVE OR WHO ITS FOR! NO LOAD IS WORTH LOSING OR BEING UNSAFE OVER!!!! TRUCK DRIVERS ARE GOING TO GET TIRED AND BE PUSHED ON NO MATTER WHAT LAWS OR REGULATIONS ARE PASSED!!! I KNOW THIS I DID THIS AND TRAINED HOW TO DO THIS 3 YEARS EXPERIENCED, LOWER 48 AND CANADA COAST TO COAST.

Milestone

2012/03/05

at 12:28 PM

Rating
-4
55
59
@Road-Scholar You are only damned if you "don't" or if you don't "do" with some careful thought. Safety always trumps accomodation - a company would be well within their right to keep a disabled employee off the road if the disability creates a potential hazard. Discretion is always an option.

THE ROAD-SCHOLAR

2012/03/05

at 11:40 AM

Rating
3
62
59
"Damned if you do & damned if you don't"....when comparing the two articles about Celadon today, i.e this one and the one headlined "U.S. Federal Government Sues Celadon". Thus, even if one now consideres Sleep Apnea to be a disability too, it appears a carrier can not refuse employment to a driver so affected, as it would contravene the 'Americans with Disabilities Act'.....

THE ROAD-SCHOLAR

2012/03/05

at 11:40 AM

Rating
2
57
55
"Damned if you do & damned if you don't"....when comparing the two articles about Celadon today, i.e this one and the one headlined "U.S. Federal Government Sues Celadon". Thus, even if one now consideres Sleep Apnea to be a disability too, it appears a carrier can not refuse employment to a driver so affected, as it would contravene the 'Americans with Disabilities Act'.....

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