A state appeals panel has tossed out an $18 million verdict against a freight shipping broker, saying the broker can’t be held liable for an accident allegedly caused by a truck driver who was working as an independent contractor.
On Sept. 27, a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court sided with Orland Park-based Alliance Shippers in reversing a Cook County judge’s decision refusing to grant Alliance’s request to escape a jury verdict forcing Alliance to share in the liability for an accident in which a man standing on a roadside was severely injured.
In 2017, plaintiff Francine Cornejo filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against Alliance and two other defendants, truck driver Gordon Lewis and trucking company Dakota Lines Inc.
Bertina E. Lampkin
| illinoiscourts.gov
The lawsuit centered on an incident in 2016, in which Cornejo’s son, Gustavo Cornejo Jr., was struck by an 18-wheeler driven by Lewis while the younger Cornejo was standing near a vehicle on the shoulder of a highway.
According to published reports, Cornejo Jr, then 17, was assisting with repairing the lights on a landscaping trailer along Interstate 394 near Sauk Village when he was struck by the truck driven by Lewis.
According to published reports, the accident left Cornejo Jr. with severe injuries, resulting in years of hospitalization.
A Cook County jury ultimately ordered the three defendants to pay the Cornejo family a combined $18.5 million.
Following the trial, however, Alliance asked the judge to undo the verdict against them, saying they should bear no responsibility in the incident, in large part because Lewis did not work for them, but was only the trucker selected by Dakota to haul freight at Alliance’s request.
Cook County Circuit Judge Bridget Hughes refused that request, finding that Dakota was acting as Alliance’s agent at the time of the accident, and should therefore be liable.
A state appeals court said Hughes was wrong to do so.
The decision was authored by Illinois First District Appellate Justice Bertina E. Lampkin; Justices Thomas E. Hoffman and LeRoy K. Martin Jr. concurred in the decision.
According to court documents, Alliance does not operate any trucks directly. Rather, the broker serves as a middleman, connecting trucking firms to companies requiring shipping services.
In this case, according to court documents, Alliance would routinely contract with Dakota to haul automotive parts for Fiat Alfa Romeo Chrysler.
According to court documents, the work would begin with a trip to a railyard in Sauk Village, where the driver would pick up an empty trailer. Then, the trucker would drive to Portage, Indiana, where the trailer would be loaded with automotive parts, bound for auto plants near Detroit.
At the time of the accident, Lewis was employed by Dakota, hauling an empty trailer, according to court documents.
The appellate justices noted that Alliance exercised some manner of control over the
But Lampkin wrote that, unlike other cases in which courts had held brokers liable for misconduct by drivers or trucking companies, in this instance, Alliance did not exercise enough control to make it clear that Dakota was acting as its agent, rather than as a client.
They said the case is more akin to those in which “the shipper had no contact with the carrier’s drivers and did not dictate routes or the manner in which the truck was driven.”
In this case, the justices said the evidence “so overwhelmingly favors Alliance by showing, as a matter of law, that Lewis and Dakota were not agents of Alliance that no contrary verdict based on that evidence can stand.”
They noted Alliance held no control over Lewis or his employment, or any of the vehicles, tools or equipment he might use to complete the task Alliance hired Dakota to complete. Further, the justices noted, the relationship between Alliance and Dakota was not exclusive, and their contract clearly indicated that Dakota and its drivers were acting as independent contractors, and not hired agents of Alliance.
“… Alliance specified only the particular hauling task (i.e., the mere result), rather than controlling the manner in which the work was done,” Lampkin wrote. “Even if an entity requires an exclusive relationship with the driver, has the power to fire the driver, and sets rules governing the manner of loading the trucks, no agency relationship exists if that entity does not have the power to control the details of the manner of the hauling work performed.”
Alliance was represented by attorney Michael Resis, of Amundsen Davis, of Chicago.
The Cornejo family was represented by attorneys Bradley M. Cosgrove, Yvette Loizon and Jack J. Casciato, of Clifford Law Offices, of Chicago.