$24 million award upheld in fatal ’04 crash

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

OTTAWA — A near-$24 million wrongful death and personal injury award has been upheld, almost seven years to the day after a 10-vehicle traffic crash on Interstate 55 that killed two men from Naperville and Seneca and permanently injured a man from Aurora.

A 3rd District Illinois Appellate Court panel on Wednesday upheld the record verdict rendered by a jury in Will County Circuit Court. It held three defendants liable for $23.75 million in the April 1, 2004, crash that killed Joseph G. Sperl of Naperville and Thomas Sanders of Seneca, and injured Aurora resident William Taluc.

Authorities in 2004 said a northbound, 40-ton tractor-trailer hauling a full load of potatoes slammed into three cars near I-55’s Route 30 exit ramp in Plainfield Township. Traffic had slowed there due to an earlier crash on the interstate near Weber Road.

The tractor-trailer, driven by DeAn Henry, then 51, of Utah, rolled atop two of the cars. Six other vehicles, including two more tractor-trailers, were ultimately involved in the crash, which left Taluc, Henry and three others injured.

Henry in May 2005 pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying her logbook and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. She was sentenced to 2.5 years of probation and ordered to surrender her commercial truck driver’s license for at least two years.

A Will County civil court jury on March 20, 2009, rendered the multimillion-dollar judgment against Henry and C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., her employer. Also named was LuAnn Whitener-Black, of Toad L. Dragonfly Express.

Joseph P. Shannon, of the Shannon Law Group in Chicago, represented Taluc and his wife, Skye, in the litigation.

Shannon said Thursday “the main question” put to the appellate court was whether or not Henry, at the time of the crash, was an agent of C.H. Robinson. The judges ruled she was, making the company liable in the crash, Shannon said.

C.H. Robinson is the largest company of its kind in the world, and the verdict marked “the first time they were held liable for driver negligence,” Shannon said.

Sperl, 67, lived in the University Heights area of far east-central Naperville. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and their two children.

Sanders, 42, is survived by his wife, Annette, and a son. Taluc, now 37, sustained 17 broken bones and other debilitating injuries from the crash.

“Crashes involving large trucks are among the most serious and deadly” in the U.S., Shannon said. “Nearly seven years after this deadly crash, the victims will get justice. The appellate court found that the Will County jury did its job in this case.”

Martin Healy Jr. and Jack Cannon, of the Healy Law Firm, represented the Sperl family in the lawsuit. The Sanders estate was represented by John L. Cantlin, of John L. Cantlin & Associates.