On Monday, Walmart responded to a lawsuit filed by Tracy Morgan regarding a car crash that left him seriously injured and his friend Jimmy Mack dead on June 7 earlier this year. In the filing, the company placed the blame for their injuries on Morgan and his friends due to the fact that they had not been wearing seatbelts.
Morgan, who starred in Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, was reportedly incensed by Walmart’s reaction. Morgan issued a statement on Tuesday, which said, “I can’t believe Walmart is blaming me for an accident that they caused. My friends and I were doing nothing wrong. I want to thank my fans for sticking with me during this difficult time. I love you all. I’m fighting hard every day to get back.”
Morgan and two of his critically injured companions filed a federal lawsuit against Walmart in July that accused the company of negligence. Walmart employed Kevin Roper, the driver of the truck who was reported to be going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit and was allegedly awake for more than 24 hours at the time of the crash, where he hit the rear end of the limo bus carrying Morgan from a standup show in Delaware.
Walmart’s court filing claims that Morgan’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.”
.@Walmart faults Tracy Morgan for not wearing ‘seatbelt restraint device’ in June accident: http://t.co/wWL9sywCxQ pic.twitter.com/s8mv4e06Ya
— Yahoo (@Yahoo) September 29, 2014
Morgan’s lawyer, Benedict Morelli, said that the comedian was extremely upset by Walmart’s reaction to the lawsuit. “He was so upset. It was all over the place. He was reading about it and seeing it on TV,” said Morelli.
Morgan has reportedly been undergoing rigorous rehabilitation since the crash, including daily speech, cognitive, vocational and physical therapies.