The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled Bluffton University's insurance covered a charter bus that crashed in Atlanta three years ago, killing the driver and six others.
The 5-2 ruling released this morning comes as a victory for families and crash survivors who've tried to bring claims against the northwest Ohio university.
The university's insurer had argued they couldn't be liable because Bluffton did not own the bus, comparing it a taxi cab. A lower court agreed, but the High Court ruled the university's chartering of the bus amounted to employment of the driver. Attorney James Yavorcik represented one of the victims.
"We wish the bus company's own insurance would have covered these losses in total, but with the damages sustained by the young men injured in this crash and the families of the young men killed in this crash, we felt we had to do everything we could, including pursue claims for insurance coverage against the university's policy."
Yavorcik says the ruling frees up another $21 million for victims and surviving family members.
