Family of man killed in crash with unlicensed forklift driver files $25 million lawsuit
A $25 million negligence lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Canadian retiree who was killed in a crash involving an undocumented and uninsured forklift driver in Fort Lauderdale.
The lawsuit was filed in Broward Circuit Court Wednesday and claims that the death of James Zakos, 70, could have been prevented if the companies had done a background check on forklift driver Ulises Mondragón Umanzor.
Zakos died in November after police say Mondragón, 30, pulled out too far into an intersection. They say the lift’s elevated forks ripped into Zakos’ convertible Mercedes and struck him.
Mondragón kept driving through the intersection for about a block. He then stopped and walked away from the forklift, according to his arrest report.
Zakos later died at the hospital.
“This was not just an accident, this was grossly and egregiously negligent,” the family’s attorney told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The lawsuit names contractor Skanska USA Building Inc., and subcontractors Brightview Landscape Development, Inc., and Castone Creations Inc., who are involved in a City of Fort Lauderdale improvement project.
The suit also names Mondragón and Herc Rentals Inc., which owns the forklift.
The lawsuit says Skanska USA — the project’s construction manager — failed to maintain and supervise all safety precautions related to the project, including those of its subcontractors, and that Castone, which hired Mondragón, also failed to properly investigate his driving history and forklift operating skills.
Mondragón’s hiring was “unreasonable” for various reasons, including “the fact that he had no driver’s license, no license or permit to operate a forklift and the fact that he was an illegal alien,” the lawsuit states.
Police say Mondragón is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who didn’t have a driver’s license or a permit to work heavy machinery. The Florida driver’s license number on his previous tickets is listed as suspended, the report said.
Mondragón has an immigration hold on him and is being held at the Joseph V. Conte Facility on charges relating to driving without a license and leaving the scene of a fatal crash, according to arrest records.
Court records do not list a lawyer for Mondragón or the companies.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 11:54 AM.
