Sample Interrogatories to Trucking Company

COLE TAYLOR, Individually and as
Personal Representative of the
Estate of Helena Cain, deceased
v.
PEGASUS TRUCKING, INC.
and
LEE ADAMA

Case No. CV-1701-2011

TO: PEGASUS TRUCKING, INC.

FROM: COLE TAYLOR, INDIVIDUALLY

The following Interrogatories are served upon you pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 33. They are to be answered by you fully, in writing, on oath, and within 30 days of their receipt, unless by agreement or Court order such time is extended:

(a) These Interrogatories are continuing in character, so as to require you to file supplemental answers at any time that you should obtain further or different information.

(b) Where the name or identity of a person is requested, please state the full name, home address and business address, if known.

(c) Unless otherwise indicated these Interrogatories refer to the time, place and circumstances of the occurrence mentioned or complained of in the pleadings.

(d) Where knowledge of information in possession of a party is requested, such request includes knowledge of the party’s agents, representatives and, unless privileged, his attorneys. When answer is made by a corporate Defendant, state the name, address and title of the person supplying the information and making the affidavit, together with the source of his information.

(e) The pronoun “you” refers to the party to whom these Interrogatories are addressed and the person mentioned in clause (d).

(a) As used in this Notice, the term “document” means, without limitation, the following items, whether printed or recorded or reproduced by any other mechanical process, or written or produced by hand: agreements, communications, state and federal governmental hearings and reports, correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, summaries or records of telephone conversations, summaries or records of personal conversations or interviews, diaries, graphs, reports, notebooks, note charts, plans, drawings, sketches, maps, summaries or records of meetings or conferences, summaries or reports of investigations or negotiations, opinions or reports of consultants, radiographs, photographs, motion picture film, brochures, pamphlets, advertisements, circulars, press releases, drafts, letters, any marginal comments appearing on any document, and all other writings, all originals and all copies not identical to the original or to each other; all drafts; two writings of any kind; tapes, computer discs, CD Rom, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, microfilm, microfiche, raster bitmaps, magneto optical (MO) disks, electronic images and associated indexing data, Write Once Read Many (WORM) laser disks; or any other form of photographically or electronically, digitally, magnetically impulsed, or otherwise recorded or represented information, image or document storage, including, but not limited to word processor document resource information (e.g. MS Word, Corel WordPerfect “properties” tabs) drafts and redlined versions of documents, compound documents (e.g. documents where the image is one file and the text is in another); e-mail and voice-mail archives; e-mail and voice-mail messages and back ups; databases; document management databases; Internet service provider’s records, including user account information and identification of firewalls, caches and cookies; network router traffic indicia; world wide web pages, including but not limited to HTML, XML, SGML, XGML, VRML, Adobe Acrobat, Corel Envoy, MIF, RTF, EPS, prepress formats.

If the Defendant considers any document called for in these Interrogatories to be privileged from production, then the Defendant must include in the answers to these Interrogatories a list of documents withheld from production, identifying each document by date, addressee(s), author, title, and subject matter. In addition, the Defendant should identify those persons who have seen the document or who were sent copies. Finally, the Defendant should state the ground(s) upon which each such document is considered privileged.

(b) “Identify” or “identification,” when used in reference to an individual person, means to state his full name, his present address, his present business address, and his present or last known position and business affiliation.

(c) “Describe” or “description,” (i) when used in reference to persons or members of a class, means to identify each individual person or member of a class; and (ii) when used in reference to a document, means to state the following as to each document:

(1) the nature and contents thereof;

(2) the date thereof;

(3) the date the document was executed if different from the date it bears;

(4) the name, address, and position of the author or signer thereof;

(5) the name, address, and position of the addressee, if any;

(6) the present location thereof and the name, present address, and position of the person or persons having present custody thereof; and

(7) whether the document has been destroyed and, if so, with regard to such destruction,

(i) the date thereof;

(ii) the reason therefore; and

(iii) the identity of the person or persons who destroyed the document.

(d) “Occurrence” means the vehicular collision involving Helena Cain and Lee Adama, described with particularity in the Complaint.

• Describe the corporate structure of Pegasus Trucking, Inc., and Pegasus Trucking Services, Inc., including their hierarchical employee structures, their relationship to each other, and their relationship to all parent companies, subsidiaries, and related corporations.
• Describe the application and hiring process used for Lee Adama, including whether any drug testing, background checks, interviews, driving tests were performed, and the results and findings of each.
• Describe all company-mandated or legally-mandated education or training requirements for truck drivers and employees in Lee Adama’s position, and whether Lee Adama fulfilled those requirements.
• State whether there exists any protocols, procedures, guidelines, standards, or policy manual(s) to govern or guide your agents, servants and/or employees, such as Lee Adama and company dispatchers, in the exercise of their duties in May, 2004.
• If the above Interrogatory is answered in the affirmative, state whether your agents, servants, and/or employees followed these protocols, procedures, guidelines, standards, or policy manual(s) in the exercise of their duties on or about May 11, 2004, and if not, please explain in detail why they were not followed.
• Identify each manager, supervisor, operator, driver, dispatcher, receptionist, secretary and other employee, agent, and/or servant who was on duty within the 48 hours prior to and after the collision who had any interaction or supervisory responsibilities with Lee Adama, indicating the nature of your relationship (i.e. agent, servant, and/or employee) with each such person, job position and duties at the time of the occurrence and at present.
• Describe the circumstances surrounding all disciplinary proceedings, including verbal warnings, written warnings and other discipline, directed toward Lee Adama since the beginning of his employment. Include the final outcome of all discipline.
• Identify each person who has given you or your agents, servants and/or employees a signed, written, tape recorded or oral statement concerning the circumstances of this case, including the names, addresses and telephone numbers of each such person.
• Describe all written and verbal statements given by you, your employees, agents, servants, representatives or witnesses regarding the collision involving Helena Cain.
• State the names and addresses of all experts whom you intend to call as witnesses at the trial of this matter. If any have prepared a report of his or her findings, please attach a copy of the report to your answers to these interrogatories. In addition, please state the subject matter upon which each such expert is expected to testify, the substance of the facts and opinions to which each such expert is expected to testify, and provide a summary of the grounds for each opinion.
• If you have within your control or possession photographs, video, pictures, imaging, plats, diagrams, or drawings of the scene, objects, or persons connected with the occurrence, and/or videotapes regarding any element of Plaintiffs’ claims, set forth a description of same and describe the contents of any such item, or the like, the dates created, and the identity of the person or persons creating them; and attach a copy to your answers to interrogatories.
• Give a complete statement of the facts as to how you contend that the occurrence took place including the exact location of the occurrence, the direction in which all operators were proceeding, and the speed at which all operators were proceeding.
• If it is your contention that Helena Cain’s death on May 11, 2004 was caused in whole or in part by some person or persons other than your agents, servants and/or employees, including Helena Cain or Cole Taylor, please identify each such person and act or omission.
• Identify all written communications, including internal minutes of all meetings and notes therefrom, subsequent to the death of Helena Cain and/or relating to Lee Adama, regarding safety procedures and vehicle operations at Pegasus Trucking, Inc., and Pegasus Trucking Services, Inc.
• Please identify all individuals who have or have had any responsibilities, including administrative and investigative, arising out of the death of Helena Cain. In connection therewith, please state the name of each and every such individual and set forth their current positions with or relationship to Pegasus Trucking, Inc., and Pegasus Trucking Services, Inc.
• If a report about this occurrence was made by you or your agent, servant or employee in the ordinary course of business, including, but not limited to, an incident report or quality assurance report, provide the date of each report and identify the person or persons who made each report and the persons who presently have custody of each report.
• Please state the factual basis for each affirmative and negative defense in your Answer, including any amendments thereto.
• Identify each and every written instrument upon which a claim or defense is founded.
• State the substance of all discussions concerning the occurrence that you or your agents, servants and/or employees or others in your presence had with any party to this case. State when and where each discussion took place and identify all persons who were present.
• Describe in detail any property damage to your vehicle as a result of this collision, as well as the chain of custody of any such property from the time of the collision to the present.
• For each person identified in your Answers to Interrogatories who at one time was, but no longer is, your agent, servant and/or employee, please provide the date and reason for termination and a current address (or if a current address is unknown, provide the last known address).
• Identify every person and their last known address not otherwise identified in your Answers to these Interrogatories, including eyewitnesses to all or part of the occurrence, who has personal knowledge of any facts material to this case and generally describe or summarize these facts each person possesses which are material to this claim.
• Please provide the caption, court, case number, date of filing, and name of plaintiff in all cases filed against you or your agents, servants, and/or employees arising from this occurrence and in all cases filed arising from the acts or omissions of Lee Adama while in the course of his employment, as well as the current status and final outcome of each.
• Describe the all equipment on board the truck with vehicle identification number (VIN) 1FUYSDYB2YLG96439 capable of providing tracking and speed information on the vehicle, sending and/or receiving communications (whether by wireless, radio, instant messaging, or other means), and designed to alert the driver of potentially dangerous proximity to outside objects.
• Describe the course of the truck with vehicle identification number (VIN) 1FUYSDYB2YLG96439 for the 48 hours prior to the collision on May 11, 2004, including city and state of location, whether the vehicle was traveling or stationary, from where the vehicle was proceeding and the vehicle’s intended destination.

Respectfully submitted,

POSNER & CORD, LLC

________________________________
John J. Cord
Attorneys for Plaintiff

Served with Complaint