The Arkansas Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of a national transportation client, Southeastern Freight Lines, represented by Lauren Baber and Barrett Deacon. In this lawsuit, Southeastern moved for summary judgment on all Plaintiffs' claims, seeking compensatory and punitive damages arising from a workplace incident.

The Plaintiff was loading and unloading trucks while employed as a forklift operator at R&R Packaging. Southeastern’s driver backed his tractor-trailer into a door at the R&R warehouse. Unaware that the Plaintiff was trying to board the trailer before he had stopped and chocked the wheels, the defendant driver repositioned Southeastern’s truck. During this maneuver, the Plaintiff fell from the loading dock, sustaining injuries.

The trial court agreed with Southeastern and granted summary judgment determining that the defendant owed the Plaintiff no duty of care because the Plaintiff’s conduct was not reasonably foreseeable. Last week the Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court concluding the litigation in favor of Southeastern.  

We are proud of Lauren and Barrett’s perseverance and diligence throughout the entirety of this case.