ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996 TAG: 9611140063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A lawsuit claiming that a Roanoke business contributed to a fatal accident by letting an intoxicated employee drive a company car has been settled out of court for $350,000.
Star City Auto Parts was named in a $2 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Thu Van Ma, who was killed in an automobile accident on Shenandoah Avenue Northwest in October 1995.
Mark Mullins, a Star City employee who was driving a company-owned car when it collided with a car driven by Ma, has since been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. Mullins also was named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed Star City's owners - Mullins' parents - knew or should have known that Mullins was abusing alcohol and drugs when they let him use the company car.
The Mullinses "had a duty to entrust [their] vehicles to others with reasonable care and due regard of the rights and safety of others using the highway," the lawsuit claimed.
On the day of the accident, the suit said, Mullins was drinking beer and using cocaine as he made several trips to a Shenandoah Avenue restaurant to pick up food for other employees of Star City Auto Parts.
After leaving the restaurant shortly after midnight Oct.18, 1995, Mullins slammed his car into the side of Ma's car, which had stalled after pulling onto Shenandoah Avenue, according to testimony.
The impact killed Ma, 29, and injured his brother and sister, who were riding home with him after working late at the National Linen Service.
An order filed in Roanoke Circuit Court directed that $108,987.71 of the settlement go to Roanoke lawyers Ray Ferris and Lenden Eakin, who represented the Ma family, to cover legal fees and expenses. The rest will be divided among six of Ma's relatives, each of whom will receive $40,168.71.
The $350,000 will be paid by Star City's insurance company, which also agreed to pay $150,000 to be split between Ma's brother and sister, who were injured in the accident.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB