Pembroke fatal leads to lawsuits
Families sue alleged drunk driver, his bosses and his company
Victims in the Pembroke crash that killed a teenager are suing the alleged drunk driver and his employers, alleging negligence when the man consumed alcohol and cocaine at a work party before the fatal accident.
Gregory Goodsell of Mansfield is being held without bail on charges including manslaughter and operating under the influence for the early-morning Dec. 29 accident that killed 13-year-old Claire Zisserson and seriously injured her mother, Elizabeth Zisserson, 50, and Claire’s friend, 13year-old Kendall Zemotel.
Prosecutors say Goodsell was driving in his company pickup truck up to 70 mph and weaving in and out of traffic before running a red light and striking the victim’s Subaru on the passenger side, as the girls sat in the back seat.
A suit by Zisserson’s family claims Elizabeth Zisserson was seriously injured and rendered disabled, and has been “scarred and disfigured” from the accident while they were on their way to a day trip to snowboard in New Hampshire.
The suit states Goodsell hit the victim’s car “with such force to cause the Zisserson motor vehicle to move into the south side of the street and come to a stop in the opposite travel lane.”
Gary Zemotel, Kendall’s father, wrote in a Jan. 27 suit his daughter was seriously injured, including a traumatic brain injury, multiple injuries to her body and internal injuries.
Both lawsuits pin blame on Hi Way Safety Systems, the company Goodsell worked for, and the company’s operators, Kathy Delong and Kenneth Horn, who allegedly provided alcohol and “illicit narcotics” including cocaine to Goodsell and guests at their Pembroke home.
An inquiry to Delong and Hi Way Safety Systems was not answered Wednesday, and an attorney for plaintiffs did not respond to a request for comment.
Both lawsuits demand a jury trial, and the amount of damages requested was not specified. A pair of GoFundMe pages for the victims has raised over $157,000 from over 2,600 donors.
Hi Way previously claimed Goodsell’s coworkers tried to get him to give up the keys to the company vehicle before he drove.
In January, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation indefinitely blocked Hi Way Safety Systems from bidding on state contracts, citing concerns about the incident. The move came after MassDOT immediately said it would review its contracts with the company.
A Plymouth District Court judge in December ordered Goodsell held without bail for 120 days after reviewing his driving record with an alleged 35 prior entries including reckless driving and failure to stop for police.
Goodsell’s next court appearance has not been scheduled.