Wrongful Death Suit Targets Trucker, Carrier, Freight Giant in Fatal Turnpike Crash

The estate of Faniola Joseph — one of three people killed when a semi-truck driver made an illegal U-turn and blocked northbound lanes on Florida's Turnpike in St. Lucie County — filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday, targeting the truck driver, his employer, a company manager, and one of the largest freight brokers in the United States.

The August crash left Joseph, minivan driver Herby Dufresne, and passenger Rodrigue Dor dead along a stretch of the Turnpike their families had likely traveled dozens of times. The lawsuit names the chain of decisions, alleged negligence, and documented safety failures the complaint contends made that August afternoon inevitable.

Commercial truck driver Harjinder Singh attempted an illegal U-turn at approximately 2:57 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2025, through a median crossover near Mile Marker 171 marked "U-TURN OFFICIAL USE ONLY," according to court documents. The 53-foot trailer swung across and blocked all northbound travel lanes. The minivan struck the left side of the trailer in what the complaint describes as "a classic and fatal underride crash." Joseph was pronounced dead at the scene.

Joseph's estate names White Hawk Carriers Inc. as the trucking company, Harpreet Singh — identified as a White Hawk manager and California resident — as an individual defendant, and C.H. Robinson Company Inc., the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based freight broker with eight Florida offices, as the party that selected White Hawk to haul the load despite the carrier's documented safety record.

The complaint alleges that record was publicly available through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Safety Measurement System and included a prior reportable crash in December 2024, multiple roadside citations for speeding and improper lane changes, repeated hours-of-service violations with falsified duty status records, and brake defects including air-brake leaks. C.H. Robinson marketed itself as a company that rigorously vets carriers using federal safety data, but the complaint states it failed to do so before assigning the load to White Hawk.

The lawsuit further alleges Harjinder Singh lacked the English language proficiency required under federal regulation 49 C.F.R. 391.11(b)(2) — the rule mandating that commercial drivers read and speak English sufficiently to understand highway signs and respond to official inquiries — and that he was in the country without lawful immigration status or work authorization, court documents state. The complaint also alleges an unauthorized passenger was in the truck cab at the time of the crash, an additional violation of federal motor carrier regulations.

Harpreet Singh was personally responsible for hiring, training, and supervising company drivers and failed to adequately investigate the truck driver's immigration status, work authorization, English proficiency, and overall fitness before placing him behind the wheel of a commercial rig on a Florida highway, the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit seeks damages exceeding $75,000 under Florida's Wrongful Death Act. Joseph's daughter is named as a beneficiary entitled to compensation for her mother's death, court documents indicate.

The civil case proceeds separately from any criminal proceedings. The next court filing deadline had not been publicly docketed as of Thursday evening.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.