A woman whose truck-driver husband suffered a fatal heart attack while hauling gas cylinders from Cahokia to North Kansas City, Mo., is blaming the shipment's owner for his death.
According to a suit filed Jan. 5 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, Richard L. Harvey was transporting a load of flammable and non-flammable gas cylinders for Praxair, Inc. on Aug. 19, 2005.
When he stopped at a weigh station on Interstate 70 in Foristell, Mo. near mile marker 204, he was told by the Missouri Highway Patrol that his flatbed trailer had been improperly loaded and/or that the load had been improperly secured and permitted to shift during transportation.
Harvey was required to manually reposition and re-secure the gas cylinders to comply with weight regulations for motor carriers, the suit states.
The suit claims that Harvey suffered a fatal heart attack on I-70 between mile markers 101 and 102, approximately.
Harvey's widow, Marilyn F. Harvey, claims Praxair failed to properly load, secure, inspect and weigh the flatbed trailer her husband was required to haul.
She claims to have suffered an actual and presumptive pecuniary loss, as well as lost economic benefits.
Represented by B. Jay Dowling of Sterling and Dowling of Fairview Heights, Marilyn Harvey is seeking in excess of $50,000 in damages, plus costs.
Trucker driver's widow seeks $50k for husband's heart attack
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