7-Eleven will pay a man $91 million—the largest pretrial recovery ever for a person injured in Illinois—after he was crushed by a car in front of one of the chain's stores outside Chicago.
The 57-year-old man became a double amputee after a car pinned his legs against the front of a 7-Eleven store in Bensenville, Illinois, according to reports.
The 2017 crash was one of the thousands of similar incidents identified in discovery for the case, attorney James Power, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The settlement was approved by a Cook County judge on Monday, the day the case had been set for a jury trial, reports said.
The case was the first in which attorneys had access to some 15 years of reports from 7- Eleven, the newspaper reported. Those records identified more than 6,200 storefront crashes at 7-Eleven stores across the country, Power said.
Those crashes could have been prevented if 7-Elevens had installed bollards anchored in the ground between storefronts and parking spaces, Power said.
Powers told CSP Daily News he believes the case sets a precedent for retailers.
“It forces a reckoning with storefront crashes that are happening all across the country,” he said. “These corporations need to take responsibility for the things that happen on their lots.”
In a statement provided to CSP Daily News, 7-Eleven said, “We are heartbroken by this tragedy and our thoughts continue to be with Mr. Garcia and his loved ones. It is important to note that this unfortunate accident was caused by a reckless driver who pled guilty, and this store followed all local building codes and ordinances.”
- 7-Eleven is No. 1 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of the largest U.S. c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
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