Garbage truck driver punched, kicked teen after mother tried to pass his vehicle, lawsuit says
By Nick Lentz
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Michigan (WWJ) — A lawsuit filed earlier this month alleges a Washtenaw County, Michigan, teen was “violently assaulted” by a garbage truck driver after the teen’s mother tried to drive past the vehicle, leaving the girl with a concussion.
The incident happened on March 5 while the mother, identified as Doreen Whelan, was driving her two sons, ages 17 and 4, to school in Whitmore Lake, Michigan, according to the suit.
Whelan encountered the garbage truck, owned by Duncan Disposal, “during the course of her route,” the lawsuit said. She tried to pass it without realizing the driver, whose age has yet to be disclosed, was going to reverse the rig into a roadway.
According to the court document, “Upon realizing that the garbage truck was backing up, Ms. Whelan began to reverse her vehicle to move out of the garbage truck’s path.”
The garbage truck driver started yelling “vulgar obscenities and profanities” at Whelan and her children and “displayed his middle finger” toward them, the lawsuit said. He continued to yell at them after Whelan asked him to stop.
Whelan’s 17-year-old son then asked the driver to stop yelling at them, the lawsuit said. In response, the driver jumped out of the truck, sprinted toward Whelan’s vehicle and punched, kicked and grabbed the teen, according to the court document.
The lawsuit said the driver’s knuckles were visibly bleeding after the assault.
Whelan was panicked by the assault, according to the court document, and struggled to unbuckle her seat belt. When she did, the driver started to approach her “in an aggressive and threatening manner.”
Bystanders then intervened and de-escalated the situation, the lawsuit said. The driver was later arrested.
According to the suit, the driver winked at Whelan’s children in a “deliberate, menacing, and taunting gesture” while being arrested to “further intimidate and traumatize them.”
Whelan’s teenage son was diagnosed with a concussion, sprained ankle and possible rib fracture, the court document said. He has since been unable to attend school and extracurricular activities, including baseball and track.
The lawsuit accuses the driver, named as a defendant, of assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Duncan Disposal, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, is accused of vicarious liability, negligent hiring, retention and supervision, and negligent entrustment. The court document, citing “information and belief,” said the company “knew or, in the exercise of reasonable diligence,” should have known that the driver “had a propensity for violence, aggression, and/or volatile behavior.”
According to the lawsuit, the company also failed to vet the driver’s “fitness for employment” and provide adequate training and oversight during his time with Duncan Disposal.
The family is asking for at least $75,000 in compensation, per the suit.
A spokesperson for the company said they didn’t have a statement about the lawsuit and that the driver has since been fired. CBS Detroit has reached out to law enforcement authorities and is awaiting a response.
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