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Bermudez v. Martinez Trucking

Case Date: 08/25/2003
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-02-2481 Rel

FIRST DIVISION
August 25, 2003

No. 1-02-2481

GREGORIO BERMUDEZ, a/k/a Sergio Tavizon,

          Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

MARTINEZ TRUCKING, D. MARTINEZ TRUCKING
CORPORATION, and PEDRO RODRIGUEZ,

          Defendants-Appellees.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County.


No. 99 L 4344

The Honorable
Sharon Johnson Coleman,
Judge Presiding.


PRESIDING JUSTICE GORDON delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff-appellant Gregorio Bermudez, a/k/a Sergio Tavizon (plaintiff), appeals from adirected verdict entered by the trial court for defendants-appellees Martinez Trucking, D.Martinez Trucking Corporation and Pedro Rodriguez (defendants or as named). Plaintiff hadbeen driving as a trainee with Rodriguez in a tractor-trailer truck owned by Martinez Truckingand D. Martinez Trucking Corporation when, while Rodriguez was asleep in the truck's cab,plaintiff lost control and hit a highway barrier wall, sustaining injuries. Upon defendants' motion,the trial court directed a verdict in their favor, concluding that plaintiff presented no evidence thatdefendants' conduct was a proximate cause of the accident that resulted in his injuries. On appeal,plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in entering the directed verdict because there wasevidence from which the jury could have concluded that the accident would have been avoidedhad Rodriguez remained awake. For the following reasons, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff testified that in May 1998, he met David Martinez (Martinez),(1) the president ofMartinez Trucking, a corporation based in Franklin Park, Illinois, that hauls materials in tractor-trailer trucks. Plaintiff, who had a commercial driver's license permit (CDLP), asked Martinez ifhe could train at his corporation in order to learn to drive a tractor-trailer truck and gainexperience to obtain a commercial driver's license (CDL). Plaintiff testified that Martinez told himhe could train with his employee Rodriguez, and that if plaintiff passed his CDL test, he wouldhire plaintiff to work at Martinez Trucking. Plaintiff stated that for the next month, he rode in atractor-trailer truck with Rodriguez on Rodriguez's route hauling waste to and from the Illinois-Iowa border three to six times per week. Rodriguez would drive through the city areas and thenwould pull over and allow plaintiff to drive on the highway portion of the route, which alwaysencompassed the same stretch of Interstate 88 (I-88). Plaintiff testified that while he would drive,Rodriguez would sometimes go into the cab of the truck immediately behind the front seats andsleep. Plaintiff stated he had no problem with Rodriguez going to sleep while he was driving.

Plaintiff testified that on June 27, 1998, he met Rodriguez as he usually did at MartinezTrucking around 2 or 3 a.m. to begin the day's route. Rodriguez drove the truck through the cityareas and, once they reached I-88, moved to the passenger seat and allowed plaintiff to drive thetruck. After a while, Rodriguez climbed into the cab directly behind plaintiff and went to sleep. Plaintiff testified that he was comfortable driving that day and did not feel the need to pull thetruck to the side of the road and wait for Rodriguez to wake up. Plaintiff stated that at the time,he was not scared to drive the truck by himself and he was not sleepy. Plaintiff testified that hecontinued driving for approximately 2