In October 2012, 17-year-old Brandon Majewski and his 16-year-old friends Richard McLean and Jake Roberts were biking abreast along the two-lane rural road in Toronto, Canada at 1:30am, when motorist Sharlene Simon hit the teens from behind. Majewski died soon after the crash, and a police investigation ultimately determined that the “lack of visibility” of the cyclists “was the largest contributing factor” in the accident.
Needless to say, the crash and subsequent death of Majewski was nothing short of a tragedy. But 18 months later, there has been a bizarre turn of events. Simon has decided to sue Majewski’s estate for more than $1 million. According to Canada.com, Simon’s attorney filed a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court last December stating Simon “has sustained and will sustain great pain and suffering,” including “a severe shock to her system” as a result of the crash. Furthermore, “her enjoyment of life has been and will be lessened.”
On radio this morning, Pat referred to Simon’s lawsuit as one of the most “unbelievable” stories he has ever heard.
“I'm not sure I have ever seen anything like this,” Pat said. “She blames the boys, calling them ‘incompetent bicyclists.’ Is that inconceivable? That's inconceivable.”
Perhaps the only possible explanation for the lawsuit is the fact that the Majewski family is suing Simon and Simcoe County for a total of $900,000. The Majewski suit alleges Simon was speeding, under the influence, or texting at the time of the accident.
“So I guess the excuse would be: They started it,” Pat surmised. “Is that it? It's probably her lawyer, I would imagine, saying, ‘All right, maybe you can scare them out of their suit against you by suing them for even more.'”
But Stu wasn’t convinced that would be the best approach for Simon.
“I don't see how that is going to happen. What judge, what jury would look at a case like this and say, ‘It's okay for the person who killed a child to sue the parents of that child because the child was in the way of their car,’” Stu asked. “There's a level of common courtesy, where you don't sue the family of the child who you killed because you feel stressed out.”
Front page image courtesy of the AP