Company With no compassion

Let me start by saying I am very sorry for your family's loss. It is so difficult to ever lose a lived one, and it sounds like these circumstances have made it even harder. I don't know about policies of trucking companies (there are others more qualified than I here who can discuss that). I'll try and address some of your questions, though...

Regarding autopsies, an autopsy itself is a relatively quick process. If there is no obvious cause of death discovered in the autopsy (some type of trauma or something the doctor can observe structurally) then they have to begin looking for other causes. In this case, the toxicology screen. I'm confused if this was the result of an accident, or if Daniel was discovered deceased somewhere. Either way, a toxicology screen would be done, but it sounds as if so far cause has been undetermined, so it leads me to believe they didn't discover any traumatic injury that caused his death. At any rate, a COD will ultimately need to be listed. You mentioned this occurred in the Reno area. My advice to you would be to contact t the ME's office there and request any information available.

As far as life insurance goes, the insurance company is likely waiting on a final COD before issuing any payments. As cold and heartless as that sounds, companies are out to protect their bottom line.

Regarding the safety folks responding to the scene before notifying your family, I suspect there are a few reasons this may have happened. Again, I'm speaking from experience not with trucking companies but from the public safety side. Any time there is an accident (assuming this is what happened here) that involves a death or any serious injury, it is common practice to reconstruct the accident scene. I'm guessing they did a reconstruction here, and safety responded to check out the truck for any obvious defects, and possibly to lend some assistance to law enforcement. Outside of officers who specialize in commercial vehicle enforcement, a lot of officers don't understand a lot about the operation of a semi.

I also suspect company officials may not have notified you all until they had a good handle in what was happening. They likely wanted to confirm that Daniel was the victim before contacting you. Many times it is difficult to get a lot of information at an accident scene. There are times I have even transported deceased patients from a scene and didn't have any idea who the person was. Its not uncommon to have a victim without a wallet in them, or it is often difficult to get to the wallet or identification until arriving at the hospital. So it is possible that Daniel may not have been identified for a little while.

Again, I'm very sorry for your loss. I hope thus helps some in your understanding of what may have occurred. I pray you and your whole family can find some peace knowing that Daniel is resting safe in the arms of Jesus. Take care.

 

Sorry to hear about your loss maam. Truck driving is very dangerous. My dad and grandad were both truck drivers. They always said safety was priority. I chose trucking because it's something i know how to do. I was trained at an early age and still today i continue to learn something new everyday. I too am catholic. God bless you and your family for your loss.

 

I'm sorry for yours and your daughter's loss.
Not to be argumentative, but if Daniel's boss showed up personally to give the news, that shows compassion and consideration.
It would have been much easier to send someone else.
When you say he didn't look or speak to her, what did he do? hand her a note?
I had an employee die on the job in a freak and horrible accident.
I, too, personally went to his wife's house and told her the news.
I don't think I could look her in the eye either. It wasn't lack of compassion. I had never had to notify someone personally, of a death like this. I didn't know how. Maybe his boss was the same.
Again, I'm sorry for the loss.
But the fact that his boss personally came to your daughter's house, even if to accompany another person that delivered the news, I am impressed.

 

I'm very sorry for your loss! I can tell you other stories of other companies with no compassion. I had two co-workers, different situations where both complained of chest pain or their arm hurting and the dispatchers only concern was to do one more hot load for them. Neither one returned and zero compassion showed for the families. One owner bought the wife a month's groceries trying to clear his own conscious. Seriously millionaire, that's all you can do? I was even terminated the day I was in the hospital getting angioplasty and insurance cancelled. Then COBRA hid for 3 months in a move to financially hurt me. It's a cold world out there when $$$ is involved.

I'm sure everyone is waiting on the COD. Many states require an autopsy regardless when a person is under a certain age. I lost a good friend 2 weeks ago and the autopsy report and COD still isn't back.

Regardless if this was Daniel's fault or not, it is a workplace death. The family should be talking to an attorney and seeking advice. There are workers comp death benefits and possibly a whole lot more.

It's a shame one has to go through all this on the money end in their time of sorrow.

Prayers coming your family's way.

 

Terribly sorry for your loss. I just lost a sister-in-law, who was my friend also. Hope you can deal with the grieving process for now. Then as that time goes by, many questions may get answered and then you can deal with the trucking company. My heart goes out tour your family and his.

 

http://www.lassennews.com/home/7527-klamath-falls-man-dies-in-highway-139-accident-

You said "future son-in-law", which means they were not yet married. Death notifications have to be made to next of kin, which in this case would be his parents of immediate family. Fiance is not considered next of kin.

You're lucky you had a personal visit by anyone from the company in the first place. The company is based 550 miles from Daniel's home. Getting a visit from from his immediate boss is more personal than from a company head who most likely never heard of Daniel. And being notified by the company within 8 hours of his accident is fairly quick all things considered. In all actuality the local law enforcement should have the burden of providing the death notification. I don't blame his boss if he couldn't look or speak to your daughter. You go tell someone's family their son or fiance was just killed.

And having had to personally deal with the final check and life insurance payout and it being paid to the estate of.... You are looking at years possibly before you get that payment. There are laws and red tape miles long to go through to finalize things. And again, your daughter was only fiance, not wife. In the eyes of the state that's a big difference. They may be beneficiaries, but it will take time for the insurance company to determine cause of death. He may have died from injuries in the accident, but if it's determined the accident was caused by his actions, you could be in for a long battle. Speak to a lawyer.

It's always terrible when a driver dies in a truck related accident and I'm sorry for your loss. But it's times like these when you have misdirected anger. Don't let that cloud your judgement or comprehension of the laws.