Insurers Sue Walmart Over Tracy Morgan Settlement

The comedian is refusing the insurers' demand for a deposition
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 6, 2017 2:12 PM CDT
Insurers Sue Walmart Over Tracy Morgan Settlement
Two insurance companies are suing Walmart over the company's settlement with Tracy Morgan following a 2014 accident involving a company truck and the comedian.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Walmart settled with Tracy Morgan after a truck owned by the company plowed into the comedian's limousine van in 2014—injuring Morgan and killing one of his friends—but it seems Walmart's insurers aren't too happy about that settlement. CBS News reports Ohio Casualty and Liberty Insurance Underwriters are suing Walmart over the settlement, claiming Morgan exaggerated his injuries to get money. They want Morgan to submit to a seven-hour deposition, but the comedian is refusing. Morgan's lawyer, Benedict Morelli, tells Page Six the demand amounts to "harassment," adding that his client was "devastatingly injured." Morgan suffered a broken leg, broken ribs, and what a lawyer called a "traumatic brain injury."

Officials ruled that the driver of Walmart's truck was responsible for the accident and hadn't slept in 28 hours, though Morgan and his passengers exacerbated their injuries by not wearing seat belts, People reports. Morgan and another injured passenger reportedly settled with Walmart for $90 million, though Morelli says that figure is "not even close" to accurate. Walmart says the settlement with Morgan was "amicable," and Morelli says the two insurance companies are just upset that after years of taking Walmart's premiums, they have to pay some of that money out. A judge will reportedly decide this month if Morgan must sit for the deposition. "Could have been worse. I could have got hit by a Bob's Discount Furniture truck. You know they ain't got no f---ing money," Morgan jokes about the crash in his new Netflix special. (More Tracy Morgan stories.)

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