Customer sued after mechanic dies while working on his 2019 Jeep Wrangler at a Michigan dealership

A man in Michigan is being sued after a mechanic was killed in an accident while working on his vehicle.

While the owner of the manual transmission 2019 Jeep Wrangler is being sued, it will be the dealership’s insurance company that will be financing any possible compensation on his behalf. The attorney representing the mechanic’s family, David Femminineo, said the trial has been set for May 20. The case was reported this week by TV station Fox 2 Detroit.

The man took his vehicle into Rochester Hills Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge on March 13, 2020, for an oil change.

Two mechanics started to work on the vehicle when the accident occurred.

One of the mechanics, Daniel Thompson, got into the Jeep and stepped off the clutch, causing the vehicle to jump forward and hit mechanic Jeffrey Hawkins, 42, Femminineo said. Hawkins was pronounced dead within an hour. Thompson also was named a defendant in the case, which was filed March 18, 2021, in Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan.

“It turns out that the fellow employee was 19 years old, did not have a driver’s license and certainly did not know how to use a stick shift,” Femminineo said.