It was almost four months ago that Tracy Morgan was in that horrible car accident that proved nearly fatal for the "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" star, and did prove fatal for veteran comedian Jimmy Mack.
And since then, it's been assumed that Wal-Mart and Kevin Roper, the driver that hit Morgan, would be considered at fault and hit with some serious punishments. But now, that doesn't look like the case anymore. A piece in MTV News claims that Morgan was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision, and thus the blame is on him for his injuries, and not Wal-Mart or Roper.
Here's what Wal-Mart's official statement says: that Morgan's injuries "were caused, in whole or in part, by plaintiffs' failure to properly wear an appropriate available seatbelt restraint device."
This ignores the fact that Roper was falling asleep at the wheel, and that Morgan was not the only person injured in the crash, but we'll see how this develops.
In covering the story, Yahoo News adds the part about Roper and his fatigue at the wheel, adding a quote from Morgan's lawsuit: "Walmart knew or should have known [that Roper had been] awake for more than 24 consecutive hours." Which seems like a pretty important point to make.
Reuters adds an important quote from Brooke Buchanan, spokesperson for Wal-Mart, about the issue of Morgan's seat belt. Here's what she said:
Wal Mart is "willing to work with Mr. Morgan and the other plaintiffs."
That's fairly vague, so we'll wait and see what that really means. But maybe it's a sign of compromise, that Wal-Mart realizes it screw up, and that seat belt or no seat belt, this disaster is entirely its own fault.
Although that's probably asking a little too much from Wal-Mart.
Check back soon for the latest Tracy Morgan updates.
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