Seattle Seahawk Employee Wrongful Death Claim Settled

MBC lawyer John Christensen recently negotiated a $250,000.00 settlement in the wrongful death claim of Rodney O’Connor, a father, grandfather, United States military veteran and long time Seattle Seahawk employee.  As Conversion Lead with the Seattle Seahawks, Mr.  O’Connor traveled with the team providing crucial support services, including during their trip to the Superbowl in 2005.  Mr. O’Connor received an NFC Championship ring that year, as well.  Tragically, however, Mr. O’Connor’s life was cut short when he was hit and killed by inattentive driver.

On October 3, 2008, Mr. O’Connor was walking home from work when he was hit and killed by an inattentive teenage driver who was paying more attention to his girlfriend than the road.   According to the police investigation, Mr. O’Connor was within inches of having crossed 166th Avenue East in Renton when he was hit by the defendant’s jeep traveling an estimated 40 miles per hour.  Just one more step and Rodney would have been safely on the curb.

Emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene and immediately began CPR and had Mr. O’Connor airlifted to Harborview.  He suffered multiple injuries including a fractured skull, shattered pelvis, fractured vertebrae, cuts and bruises to his arms, legs, face, feet and torso as well as collapsed lungs.   He also suffered cardiopulmonary arrest and had bleeding in his brain.  After a valiant attempt to keep him alive, Mr. O’Connor succumbed to his injuries on October 12 leaving behind a daughter and grandchild.

The defendant claimed that Mr. O’Connor was at fault for the collision because he was he jaywalked across 166th Avenue East.  Our accident reconstruction revealed that Mr. O’Connor was within the “curtain of light” provided by the street light and visible to other drivers on the road.  “Had the teenager been paying attention to the road instead of his girlfriend, he would have seen Mr. O’Connor with plenty of time to stop before hitting him,” Christensen said.