James Henderson

Died After Collision;

Travis Dearstone

Was Going To Fire

By BILL JONES

Staff Writer

A lawsuit seeking $6 million in damages has been filed in Greene County Circuit Court against the Baileyton-based United Volunteer Fire Department, one of its firefighters and the Greene County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments, Inc., in connection with a fatal 2007 traffic accident.

An amended lawsuit complaint was filed June 20 in Circuit Court on behalf of Crystal Henderson, surviving spouse of the late James Darryl Henderson, of Barkley Road, and their surviving daughter Chelsea Henderson.

The complaint also indicates that the suit was filed on behalf of Alexander Benjamin Smith, who is identified as James Darryl Henderson's minor son from a previous relationship.

James Darryl Henderson died on July 12, 2007, from injuries suffered in a June 16, 2007, collision between his vehicle and one driven by Travis Joe Dearstone, of Ottway Road, whom the complaint identified as a United VFD firefighter.

The other defendants, according to the complaint, are the United Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. Also named as a defendant is the Greene County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments, Inc.

The complaint seeks $5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Most of the suit's allegations were denied in a legal answer filed July 10 by an attorney representing the United VFD and Dearstone.

Suit's Allegations

The lawsuit says, "On June 16, 2007, at approximately 5:10 a.m., James Darryl Henderson was the driver of a vehicle which was proceeding southbound on State Route/Highway 172, near the intersection with Union Road in Greene County...

"As Mr. Henderson proceeded in this direction in a safe and proper manner, keeping his vehicle under due and proper control at all times, at the same time and in the same proximity, a vehicle driven by the defendant Travis Joe Dearstone was traveling eastbound on Union Road, from where the defendant Dearstone, as he attempted to turn left in the northbound direction of State Route/Highway 172, pulled into the pathway of and violently collided with the vehicle driven by Mr. Henderson.

"The tremendous force of this collision caused considerable damage to Mr. Henderson's vehicle and also caused severe, painful, and debilitating physical injuries to Mr. Henderson for which he had to seek medical treatment.

"On July 12, 2007, after enduring extreme pain and suffering since the time of the collision, Mr. Henderson died as a result of the massive injuries he sustained in the automobile collision on June 16, 2007."

The lawsuit does not mention it directly, but the accident that involved pickup trucks driven by Henderson and Dearstone took place as Dearstone was responding in his private vehicle to a report of a fire at a residence off Baileyton Road.

State law, according to the complaint provides that a regular member of voluntary of auxiliary firefighting ... organization of a governmental entity shall be considered to be an employee of that governmental entity for the purposes of this chapter (of the Tennessee Code Annotated).

As a result, according to the complaint, Dearstone's alleged negligence carries over to the United VFD and the Greene County Association of Volunteer fire Departments.

The lawsuit's complaint also alleges that the United Volunteer Fire Department, and/or the defendant Greene County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments, "negligently hired, trained, and/or supervised the defendant Travis Joe Dearstone in that they failed to perform a proper background check, to investigate his driving history, to provide him with proper training in regard to safely and prudently responding to a fire, and to provide him with proper supervision, and thereby these defendants failed to comply with the accepted standards, policies and procedures governing the hiring, training, and/or supervision of such firefighters."

The complaint also alleges that Dearstone, at the time of the accident, committed several acts of "common-law negligence," including:

* failing to maintain a proper lookout for other vehicles on the roadway;

* failing to maintain the vehicle he was operating under due and reasonable control;

* failing to stop his vehicle before colliding with another vehicle;

* failing to insure that he could pull safely into ongoing traffic;

* failing to yield the right of way to the vehicle driven by James Darryl Henderson; and

* failing to observe applicable traffic laws;

The complaint also alleges that the United VFD and the Greene County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments "negligently hired, trained, and/or supervised the defendant Dearstone, while they knew, or reasonably should have known, of his reckless propensities."

Answer Filed To Suit

A legal "answer" to the lawsuit was filed on July 10 on behalf of the United VFD and Travis Joe Dearstone.

In that document, Knoxville attorney Meredith Balthrop Weaver wrote that the lawsuit's complaint "fails to state a claim from which relief can be granted."

The answer also states that defendants United VFD and Dearstone did not have sufficient information about the damages alleged in the lawsuit's complaint to admit or deny them. "Strict proof is demanded," she wrote.

Weaver also wrote in the answer that the Dearstone and the United VFD denied other allegations regarding Dearstone.

"However, in regard to the remaining allegations that Travis Joe Dearstone, in his position as a volunteer firefighter with the United Volunteer Fire Department, willfully and wantonly caused the accident on June 16, 2007, such allegations are denied," Weaver wrote.

"It is strictly denied that Travis Joe Dearstone, in his capacity as a volunteer firefighter, acted in a willful, wanton manner or to the level of gross negligence."

The answer also notes that the defendants deny "that the United Volunteer Fire Department negligently hired, trained and/or supervised ... Dearstone or that ... Dearstone had reckless propensities."

Weaver also wrote in her response to the suit that the provisions of the Tort Liability Act should apply to the extent of damages in the case.

She also said the defendants' position is that the plaintiffs are not entitled to punitive damages in the case.

Weaver also wrote that the defendants' position is that the statutory limits prescribed by TCA 29-20-403(3) apply to this case.

In addition, Weaver, wrote the defendants maintain that James Henderson "suffered from prior injuries and/or pre-existing medical conditions which were casually related his injuries and/or death."