September 20 2007
Lawsuit Filed in Deadly Van Crash After PGA Tour Event, Waste Management, Western Golf Association A
CHICAGO, IL – A wrongful death lawsuit was filed late this afternoon by the law firm of Salvi Schostok & Pritchard P.C., on behalf of the estate of Elizabeth Soriano, 17, a worker who was killed in an automobile accident following the BMW Championship on Monday, September 3, 2007.
Elizabeth was one of fourteen people returning to Chicago from the Cog Hill Golf Course in Lemont where they had spent the day picking up trash in preparation of a PGA tour event. The borrowed 1999 Ford van they were traveling in overturned on the Stevenson Expressway in Burr Ridge. According to Illinois State, the van started shaking, veered across a lane, hit a guardrail, flipped on its side and crashed killing Elizabeth and another passenger. The seat belts in the rear of the van were faulty, and the brakes and/or wheels may have failed before the accident.
“The Western Golf Association and Waste Management were responsible for making sure that the course was cleaned up before and after the BMW Championship, and they had a responsibility to make sure that the people who cleaned up the golf course were safely transported to and from the course,” said lead Plaintiffs’ attorney Patrick A. Salvi. “They failed in that regard.”
The lawsuit alleges that Waste Management Holdings, Inc.; Western Golf Association; Barton Staffing Solutions Inc. and Rosa Michel were negligent in their upkeep of the vehicle and in allowing Elizabeth Soriano and other employees to be transported in a van unfit for the road.
“Elizabeth Soriano was a lovely young lady,” said Patrick A. Salvi. “This is a terrible loss that could have been easily avoided if the companies responsible for the workers would have taken careful measures in making sure that all of their employees had reliable transportation.”
The complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, names the Plaintiff ANA GABRIELA SORIANO, as Supervised Administrator of the Estate of ELIZABETH SORIANO, Deceased, MAYRA SORIANO, a minor, by MARIA SORIANO, her parent and next friend, ANA GABRIELA SORIANO and MARIA SORIANO against WASTE MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS, INC., an Illinois Corporation, WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION, an Illinois Corporation, BARTON STAFFING SOLUTIONS, INC., an Illinois Corporation, and ROSA MICHEL, Individually.
