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Lawsuit filed over 2011 logging death
Posted On 24 Oct 2012
A Whitley County woman and her minor daughter are suing a local logging company for negligence in the 2011 death of her husband.
Christella Freeman Bays filed suit Oct. 17 in Whitley Circuit Court against Mike Weaver and Weaver Logging Company over the Nov. 4, 2011 death of her husband, Alfred Curtis Bays.
The lawsuit claims that Weaver owns and operates a logging company that is not incorporated.
The lawsuit, which was filed by attorney Lee Gilbert, alleges that on Oct. 18, 2011, Bays was working as an independent contractor for Weaver and Weaver Logging, at a logging operation on Highway 1809 in Knox County logging a stand of trees.
The lawsuit alleged that on this date, Weaver and his company were maintaining and operating the worksite in a negligent and unsafe manner, which caused events that led to the injury of Alfred Bays on Oct. 18, and his eventual death.
"Alfred Curtis Bays was fatally injured by a falling tree or debris at said worksite," the lawsuit claims.
"As a result of the defendant’s negligence … Bays was subjected to conscious pain and suffering and ultimately died at age 33 after 18 days in the hospital, never regaining full consciousness after reaching the hospital."
At the time of the accident, no "master logger" was on site at the logging or timbering operation as required under state law subjecting the defendants to damages for violation of safety statutes and gross negligence, Gilbert wrote in the lawsuit.
‘Christella Freeman Bays suffered mental anguish and emotional pain by not only having to watch her husband suffer in the hospital from his injuries, but also to wait daily in the hope that her husband would regain consciousness, which he did not," Gilbert wrote.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate Christella Bays and her daughter, Haylee Naomi Bays, for medical and funeral related expenses, damages for past and future pain and suffering, and punitive damages for gross negligence for violation of a safety statute.
The lawsuit also seeks to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and a trial by jury.
So far no response has been filed to the lawsuit.
There is no listing for Weaver Logging or Mike Weaver in the AT&T telephone directory.
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well i worked with my dad mike weaver and curt as we know him to be called . but if mr gilbert would check my uncle tom who has always helped my dad is a master logger , and he can see that he has no citations on his card and curt bays has had master logging training and he knowed all the rules and regulations
well i worked with my dad mike weaver and curt as we know him to be called . but if mr gilbert would check my uncle tom who has always helped my dad is a master logger , and he can see that he has no citations on his card and curt bays has had master logging training and he knowed all the rules and regulations