Nearly $10M Awarded to Family of Woman Killed in Fatal Motorcycle Club Brawl

ALM Media
Updated
A man whose leg was crushed during the construction of a new attraction in a Pennsylvania amusement park has agreed to settle his claims for $2.75 million.

Bollinger v. Iron Order Motorcycle Club

$9.7 Million Verdict Date of Verdict: July 3.

Court and Case No.: C.P. Philadelphia No.150700429. Judge: Kenneth Powell.

Type of Action: Negligence, dram shop. Injuries: Death. Plaintiffs Counsel: Slade McLaughlin, McLaughlin & Lauricella. Defense Counsel: Daniel Rucket of Rawle & Henderson, Stephen Scheuerle of Hohn & Scheuerle, and Brian Grady of Elliott Greenleaf. Comment: A Philadelphia jury has awarded nearly $10 million to the family of a woman killed during a scuffle with members of a motorcycle club outside of a Reading-area restaurant.

According to court records, a jury last week awarded $9.7 million to the estate of Tonya Focht, who had been fatally struck by an SUV during a melee that occurred in June 2015. The fight involved several members of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club. Although the club had been one of several defendants sued, the club had been let out of the case at the end of trial after it filed a motion for compulsory nonsuit. That decision has been appealed.

McLaughlin & Lauricella attorney Slade McLaughlin, who is representing Focht, said the case was unique because it had to be tried in the Criminal Justice Center, rather than City Hall, for security reasons. He also said he plans to continue to pursue liability against the motorcycle club. “The client will not have achieved full justice until the Iron Order Motorcycle Club (which is responsible for the actions of its members) is held accountable and liable for the death of Tonya Focht,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “We have filed post-trial motions this week … and we will see this case through all appeals to the very end. The client’s needless death deserves nothing less.” Brian Grady of Elliott Greenleaf, who represented the Iron Order Motorcycle Club, said there was no evidence that the club had anything to do with the fight. “The judge was right on the money with the law. We’re extremely comfortable with the rulings he made,” Grady said. According to the pretrial memo of Brenda Bollinger, who is the administrator of Focht’s estate, on June 19, 2015, Focht and her fiance arrived at Anna’s Bar-B-Q Pit near Reading to meet friends for dinner. The memo said several members of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club began to accost them verbally and physically. Although the two attempted to leave, the members followed them into the restaurant’s parking lot where the conflict escalated, the memo said. The memo said Focht’s fiance was wrestled to the ground where the members of the club began to “pummel” him. Focht tried to help her fiance, but one of the club members named Timothy Martin allegedly punched her in the face, which knocked her backward and into the side of a moving SUV, the memo said. According to the memo, the vehicle crushed Focht’s skull. Focht’s estate sued the restaurant on alleged negligence and dram shop violations. She also sued the Iron Order Motorcycle Club and several members of the club involved in the fight on claims that they were negligent and reckless. The plaintiff also made wrongful death and survivorship claims. The memo noted that, at the time of her death, Focht was a stay-at-home mother of two minor children, and was studying to be a mental health professional. The memo also said the plaintiff’s medical expert, Wayne Ross, planned to testify that Focht was conscious when the vehicle ran over her head, and that she remained alive for a few minutes afterward. According to court records, Anna’s Bar-B-Q Pit joined Focht’s fiance and the SUV driver into the lawsuit. However, according to court records, Anna’s Bar-B-Q Pit entered an undisclosed settlement prior to trial. In its pretrial memo, the Iron Order Motorcycle Club contended that Focht’s fiance had instigated previous altercations with its members, and that Focht and her fiance had instigated the fight that resulted in Focht’s death. The memo also said it has little control over its local chapters regarding who can become a member and how the chapters are run, or managed. A pretrial memo filed by defendants Douglas and Laree Gottschall, who are Iron Order members involved in the fight, also said Focht’s fiance had instigated the fight. The memo further said Focht’s fiance punched Laree Gottschall, who is Douglas Gottschall’s wife, in the face during the fight, and that both were not near Focht when she was knocked into the SUV. The memo also said Focht punched Martin several times before he struck her. At the time the trial ended, Martin and the Gottschalls were the only defendants on the verdict sheet. A default judgment had also been entered against Martin. The jury found them liable and awarded $3.7 in compensatory damages, as well as $2 million on the wrongful death claim and $1.7 million on the survival claim. The jury also found Martin 50 percent liable, and each Gottschall 25 percent liable. Stephen Scheuerle of Hohn & Scheuerle, who represented Anna’s Bar-B-Q Pit, and Daniel Rucket of Rawle & Henderson, who represented the Gottschalls, each did not return a call for comment. Martin did not have an attorney during trial and The Legal was unable to find contact information for him.