Law Suit Filed in Case of Manhattan Stylist Killed by Dump Truck While Crossing Street Last Year

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Jan 19, 2012, 10:18 ET

Suit Claims Truck Driver from Second Avenue Subway Construction Project Took Alternate, More Dangerous Route to Save Contractors Time, Money

NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attorneys for the family of a woman whose body was fatally severed in half when hit, run over and dragged by a dump truck in Manhattan last January filed a law suit yesterday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against multiple construction and trucking companies working on the Second Avenue Subway project. The suit, filed by the plaintiff's attorneys Kreindler & Kreindler LLP in New York, alleges negligence and recklessness.

The victim, Laurence Renard, a 35-year-old fashion stylist, was a pedestrian crossing First Avenue at 90th Street about a block from her home early in the evening on January 24, 2011. Ms. Renard was walking inside the cross walk and with the green light when struck by a dump truck weighing more than 21,000 pounds and driven by Diego A. Tapia-Ulloa, one of several defendants in the case. Ms. Renard was mortally wounded and Mr. Tapia-Ulloa was arrested on the scene and charged with multiple counts, including failing to yield the right of way to a pedestrian in the crosswalk and driving with a suspended license.

The lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Renard's family is being brought by her husband, Brice Mastroluca. Other defendants in the case include S3 Tunnel Constructors; Skanska USA Inc.; Schiavone Construction Co. LLC; J. F. Shea Construction, Inc.; Mendez Trucking Inc.; Munoz Trucking Corp.; and Rebco Contracting Corp., all contractors on the Second Avenue Subway project, which is still under construction.

"The details of this case raise serious concerns about contractors on the massive Second Avenue Subway project, who seemingly are cutting corners, regularly compromising public safety in the balance," said Kreindler's Daniel O. Rose, who is representing Mr. Mastroluca, along with attorneys James P. Kreindler and Jared L. Watkins. "This truck was driven, operated and controlled in an improper, reckless and unskillful manner by someone with a deficient driving record and in a way that did not follow the driving route and other safety requirements established for this particular work zone. To save time, and thus money, it appears this driver and others on the project had been taking shorter but more dangerous routes."

The complaint filed in court yesterday claims, among other points, that in advance of the accident which killed Ms. Renard the defendants were aware that dump trucks hauling excavated material from the work zone were not adhering to the designated truck routes for this project.

Founded in 1950, Kreindler & Kreindler (www.kreindler.com) is nationally recognized as one of the nation's leading plaintiff law firms, specializing in cases involving air, auto, bus, and train crashes. The firm has been the leading plaintiff legal counsel on hundreds of transportation-related cases, including major ones such as the September 11 terrorist attacks; Pan Am Lockerbie Flight 103; the French Railway accident near Nancy, France; Korean Airlines Flight 007; and American Airlines Flight 587; and many cases of small private and commercial crashes. Its ranks include pilots, engineers and other technical experts.

SOURCE Kreindler & Kreindler LLP