Comedian and actor Tracy Morgan is firing back at retail chain Walmart’s response to his lawsuit stemming from the automobile accident that left him in critical condition.
“I can’t believe Walmart is blaming me for an accident that they caused,” the former “Saturday Night Live” star said in a statement.
Police say that a truck driven by Walmart employee Kevin Roper in the early morning hours of June 7 collided with the rear of a limo bus that was carrying Morgan and four others on the New Jersey Turnpike.
A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board said that Roper was traveling 20 mph over the speed limit and that he was almost at his drive time limit.
The wreck left Morgan, 45, with broken ribs, a broken nose and a broken leg. Morgan’s friend, comedian James McNair, was killed, and two others were injured.
Roper pleaded not guilty in June to criminal charges that include vehicular homicide and assault by auto.
In July, Morgan filed suit against the big box chain, saying the company was negligent for not knowing that Roper had been awake for more than 24 hours at the time of the accident.
On Monday, lawyers for the largest retailer in the world responded by pointing the finger back at Morgan in a court filing in which they said the actor’s injuries were “caused, in whole or in part, by plaintiffs’ failure to properly wear an appropriate available seat belt restraint device,” and that Morgan and company had “acted unreasonably and in disregard of (their) own best interests.”
Information from CNN.com contributed to this report.
