Last June comedian and actor Tracy Morgan’s limo bus was involved in a crash with a Walmart tractor trailer truck. The crash killed Morgan’s friend and mentor, comedian James McNair, who was also riding in the vehicle. The accident also left Morgan seriously injured, and two of the other passengers, Ardley Fuqua and Jeffrey Millea, critically hurt as well. Given the nature of the crash, Morgan, Fuqua, and Millea filed a lawsuit against Walmart, and it was just recently announced that that suit has been settled with the three plaintiffs.

Morgan, a former “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” star, and his friends had left a stand-up show at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Delaware where Morgan had performed, and were traveling along the New Jersey Turnpike when the accident occurred. The driver of the Walmart truck, Kevin Roper, of Georgia, didn’t see the slow-moving traffic, which included the limo bus, until it was too late. Although Roper attempted to swerve, he wasn’t able to, and slammed into the limo bus. The truck hit Morgan’s vehicle directly, but that collision set off a chain reaction crash that involved another truck and other cars.

Although Roper is filing criminal charges and has pleaded not guilty, the civil suit from the victims was filed against Walmart. The driver hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours before the crash occurred. Although exactly why Roper was awake for so long is unclear, there are federal regulations that state that drivers can only work for 11 hours in a 14-hour workday.

The accident happened nealry a year ago, but Morgan is still struggling from the ordeal. He broke his leg, nose, and multiple ribs in the crash, as well as endured severe head trauma and is still recovering. He hasn’t appeared in public since the accident, although his team has announced that he will be appearing on “The Today Show” this coming Monday. He will appear with Matt Lauer, as well as his lawyer Benedict Morelli.

The terms of the recently settled lawsuit are being kept under wraps after the settlement was filed Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey. According to Walmart President and CEO Greg Foran,

Our thoughts continue to go out to everyone that was involved in the accident. While we know there is nothing that can change what happened, Walmart has been committed to doing what’s right to help ensure the wellbeing of all of those who were impacted by the accident. We worked closely with Mr. Morelli, and we are pleased to have reached an amicable settlement that ends this litigation. We are deeply sorry that one of our trucks was involved.

Morgan and Morelli each put out statements announcing that they were pleased with the way the settlement ended. A lawsuit with McNair’s family had already been settled in January.

While the accident was certainly tragic, it’s good that the lawsuit was resolved amicably and relatively quickly. Hopefully it will provide closure for the victims as they continue to recover.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Tracy Morgan’s Lawsuit Against Walmart in Fatal Crash is Finally Settled appeared first on Law Street.

McDonald’s has never really been known for treating its employees well, per se. That being said, I’m not sure many of us realized quite how bad it is at some of the roughly 15,000 McDonald’s locations nationwide until this week when news broke that workers in 19 different states filed complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

These complaints allege dangerous working conditions, lack of training, and hazardous equipment, among other faults. A particularly common complaint appears to be that workers are often burned by the equipment they have to handle on the job. Workers cited not having gloves when they are required to handle hot equipment, or that they’ve had to clean hot grills that haven’t been turned off.

A particularly disturbing story was told by one Chicago McDonald’s worker, Brittney Berry. She claims that she slipped and burnt her arm on a grill to the extent that the burn caused nerve damage. What’s even more worrisome is that she reports that her managers responded to the incident by telling her to put mustard on her arms, of all things. She stated:

My managers kept pushing me to work faster. The managers told me to put mustard on it, but I ended up having to get rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. This is exactly why workers at McDonald’s need union rights.

While this sounds shocking and horrible, it’s evidently not that unheard of. Polling group Hart Research Associates conducted a survey last year of nearly 1,500 adult fast food workers about their injuries on the job. Almost 80 percent reported suffering from burns, and Berry’s manager apparently wasn’t too unique, because a third of those who suffered burns reported having a member of management tell them to put some sort of condiment–like mustard, mayo, butter, or ketchup–on it to treat the problem. In addition, the survey found that two-thirds of those workers had been cut by something on the job, 33 percent had been hurt while carrying some sort of heavy item, and 23 percent had fallen on a slippery surface. Overall, nearly 90 percent of the fast food workers surveyed had been hurt in some way. While that survey didn’t just focus on McDonald’s workers, but rather on the industry as a whole, it’s hard to imagine that the conditions at McDonald’s are significant outliers from its peer companies.

These complaints fit into a ongoing campaign for workers’ rights being waged against McDonald’s by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other groups. Called the “Fight for $15” campaign, it aims to up the minimum wage for McDonald’s workers as well as provide them with safer working conditions.

McDonald’s has of course responded to the allegations levied against it, bringing up the “Fight for $15” campaign in a rather dismissive way:

McDonald’s and its independent franchisees are committed to providing safe working conditions for employees in the 14,000 McDonald’s Brand U.S. restaurants. We will review these allegations. It is important to note that these complaints are part of a larger strategy orchestrated by activists targeting our brand and designed to generate media coverage.

OSHA has confirmed that the allegations are being looked into, so whether they are actually true will be decided by the government. Either way, it creates a pretty grim picture of the working conditions at these branches, and a rather convincing argument for reform.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Do You Want Pain With Your Fries? OSHA Investigating McDonald’s appeared first on Law Street.