Tracy Morgan and his legal team are furious that Wal-Mart is blaming the comedian and his passengers for the serious injuries they sustained in a tragic car accident back in June.
On June 7, Morgan was sent to the hospital in critical condition after a Wal-Mart truck slammed into the back of the comedian’s limo bus on a New Jersey turnpike.
Another passenger, 63-year-old comedian James McNair, was declared dead at the scene.
Initially, Wal-Mart was very apologetic and sympathized with the comedian for his loss.
Now, things are starting to shift.
In response to Morgan’s lawsuit against the company, Wal-Mart insists that the accident was at least partially Morgan’s fault because he and his passengers were not wearing seatbelts.
In court filings Monday, Wal-Mart claimed that the injuries obtained by Morgan and fellow passengers “were caused, in whole or in part, by plaintiffs’ failure to properly wear an appropriate available seatbelt device.”
The suggestion that the lack of seatbelts could possibly be the “whole” cause of the accident takes full responsibility off the Wal-Mart truck driver who slammed the massive vehicle into the back of Morgan’s limo bus.
Now, Morgan is responding to the court filings and says he can’t believe the company is blaming him for his possible career-ending injuries.
“After I heard what Wal-Mart said in court I felt I had to speak out,” he said in a statement. “I can’t believe Wal-Mart is blaming me for an accident that they caused. My friends and I were doing nothing wrong.”
Morgan’s lawyer, Benedict Morelli, is just as upset with the claims and says the seatbelts had nothing to do with the accident.
“The driver never braked, never swerved,” Morelli said. “… It wasn’t the seatbelts.”
He also pointed out that police who responded to the scene of the accident said the seatbelts were not an issue in the case.
Meanwhile, all the passengers are still on the road to recovery and Morelli says it’s insensitive for Wal-Mart to make such a claim.
“He’s struggling every day, fighting hard just to get incrementally better, and they hit him with this,” he said of Morgan.
Three passengers on the bus, including Morgan, suffered traumatic brain injuries and undergo hours of rehab treatment every day.
“They’re trying to get their brains to work the way they worked before the accident,” Morelli said.
Morgan’s legal team also pointed out that the accident has put a halt to some major opportunities for the star.
“He’s been offered his own show, a movie – he can’t do any of those things right now,” he said.
For now, the outcome is not clear, but if Morgan doesn’t show enough signs of improvement it is possible that his comedy career could come to an end.
