The Oak Lawn Village Board voted Tuesday to settle a lawsuit that alleged a former village employee struck a pedestrian with a village vehicle May 29, 2023.
Dennis McLaughlin, in a complaint filed in July, said former village employee Luke Nolan ran into him while McLaughlin was walking east on a crosswalk on 95th Street, near the intersection of 53rd Court in Oak Lawn.
The complaint alleges that Nolan, acting as a village employee, was guilty of carelessly and negligently operating the vehicle without regard for pedestrians, failing to keep the vehicle “under proper and sufficient control,” operating the vehicle recklessly and dangerously, failing to adhere to basic traffic safety practices, failing to stop at an intersection until all pedestrians had cleared and failing to yield the right of way to McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was knocked to the ground, with his injuries rendering him disabled, the complaint said.
“He suffered physical pain and mental anguish and will so continue to suffer for a long time in the future,” the complaint said, adding he lost “considerable sums of money” due to the crash and has been “unable to attend to his customary affairs and occupations.”
Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer referred questions about the settlement to Village Manager Thomas Phelan, who said in a statement to the Daily Southtown that Nolan no longer works for the village. Nolan could not be reached.
“The village recognized that our former employee did err in not double-checking both ways before entering the crosswalk,” Phelan said. “This corner has a structure that creates a blind spot of people walking into the crosswalk. Our employee looked that way, then the other way, then proceeded forward before looking back again in the original direction which is where the pedestrian emerged.”
Phelan would not say how much the village paid McLaughlin in the settlement. The complaint sought a $100,000 judgement from the village and Nolan in addition to covering his litigation costs.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
