Harley-Davidson must pay $287 million for fatal motorcycle accident

He rode his Harley-Davidson all over Western New York, made three trips to California and back, and proudly served as president of the Harley Owners Group – better known as the HOGS club – in Batavia.

But a horrific accident on June 6, 2020, near the New York-Pennsylvania border changed everything. Morris was seriously injured and his partner and roommate, Pamela SinClair, was killed.

Morris and the SinClair heirs sued Harley-Davidson, blaming the accident on a defect in Harley’s traction control system.

This month, a jury in Livingston County, New York, found Harley liable for the tragedy and on Tuesday awarded Morris and SinClair a combined $287 million in damages. That includes $240 million in punitive damages from the world-famous motorcycle maker.

Morris’ attorneys said they are confident the $287 million award is one of the highest — if not the highest — ever awarded in a product liability case in western New York.

“The money is great, don’t get me wrong,” Morris told The Buffalo News on Friday. “But the main reason we sued was because we wanted to hold Harley-Davidson accountable. I wouldn’t want any other Harley owner to go through what I went through the last four years.”

Morris, 79, is a retired Kodak employee who lives in Caledonia, N.Y. SinClair, who died at age 62, was also a retired Kodak employee.

They were riding a Harley three-wheeled motorcycle when it went off the road and crashed in Hamlin Township, Pennsylvania.

The attorneys who filed the lawsuit, Paul Edelstein and Daniel Thomas, told The Buffalo News that they believed the jury was trying to send a message to Harley-Davidson by seeking an unusually high amount of damages.

“This was a product liability case. We presented evidence that showed Harley was not responsible from start to finish,” Edelstein said. “We showed that they cut corners to get their trike out in the open and that they were not completely honest with the public about the problems with the trike.”

Harley’s attorneys disputed those allegations during the trial in Geneseo, raising questions about Morris’s driving ability.

The 121-year-old Milwaukee-based motorcycle company did not respond to emails and a phone message from The News on Thursday and Friday.

Mark Kircher, Harley’s lead attorney in the trial, spoke briefly with a reporter on Friday.

“All I can say is that Harley-Davidson respectfully disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal,” Kircher said.

Founded in 1903 in a tiny Milwaukee barn, Harley makes some of the most popular motorcycles in the world. The company runs a safety training academy for its customers and calls itself “the most desirable motorcycle and lifestyle brand in the world.”

Earlier this year, Newsweek magazine named Harley one of the “Most Trusted Companies in America,” based on a survey of 25,000 American consumers.

“We knew what we were dealing with. People trust this company so much that they tattoo the Harley-Davidson logo on their bodies,” said Thomas, the attorney.

Court documents say Morris was riding a 2019 Harley Tri Glide three-wheeler that he claimed to have purchased for just under $40,000.

The crash that killed SinClair was Morris’ second on a Harley trike.

On February 18, 2019, Morris and SinClair were injured when one of the trike’s rear wheels suddenly braked, causing the vehicle to lose control and crash in a wooded area in LaBelle, Florida.

“We were riding on a straight, clean highway when the motorcycle veered left. We went off the road, the Harley flipped and we were both thrown off the bike,” Morris told The News. “Pam was hurt worse than me. She broke her arm and her ankle.”

Shortly after the Florida accident, Morris received a recall notice from Harley concerning the trike’s traction-control software, attorneys representing Morris and the SinClair heirs said.

“The recall comes after Harley customers across the country complained of similar software issues with their trikes. Mr. Morris returned the vehicle for service and Harley assured him it was safe to ride. A second, fatal crash occurred just months later,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

Attorneys testified that Morris did not sue Harley after the first accident, but asked the company to reimburse him and SinClair for about $160,000 in medical expenses.

Harley refused, maintaining that the first accident had nothing to do with the problem that led to the recall, two lawyers said.

“The Harley representative assured me the bike was fixed, it was safe and there would be no further problems,” Morris told The News. “I believed them. I trusted Harley.”

During the trial, Morris testified that he did not remember anything about the accident in which SinClair died.

“I don’t remember anything about the accident and I don’t remember anything that happened until about 10 weeks later when I was in a rehabilitation center and they told me Pam was dead,” Morris told The News. “I was in shock. Pam was a nice, sweet person … a wonderful partner, mother, sister and grandmother.”

During opening statements on July 23, Harley’s lead attorney, Kircher, raised questions about Morris’s skills as a motorcycle rider. Kircher told jurors that Morris was an experienced two-wheeled motorcycle rider but was “relatively new” to three-wheeled riding when he had two accidents.

Driving a three-wheeled Harley is “completely different” than driving a two-wheeled vehicle, Kircher told the jury. He said Morris’s Harley model underwent extensive safety testing before it was sold to the public.

“Motorcyclist error is the most common cause of single-vehicle motorcycle accidents,” Kircher told the jury.

Edelstein and Thomas said they would prove that both accidents were caused by a problem with the tricycle’s traction system.

A police report from a 2019 Florida crash lists a “brake” issue and “equipment failure” as causes. A police report from a fatal crash in Pennsylvania says the vehicle “made a sharp left turn and went off the road,” but doesn’t speculate on what caused it.

“For over four years, Harley-Davidson has said that both accidents were Harold’s fault, which we knew was not true,” Edelstein said after the hearing. “So the first thing we had to do was exonerate Harold. The second thing was to make sure that these terrible events didn’t happen to anyone else. The message that this jury sent was super, super strong. Companies that put out dangerous and unsafe products must and will be held accountable.”

The jury agreed with the plaintiffs’ attorneys, finding Harley-Davidson liable for SinClair’s death and Morris’ injuries. The jury awarded Morris and the SinClair estate $120 million each in punitive damages. Another $47 million was awarded for pain and suffering.

Chris O’Brien, an Amherst attorney who lectures to students and lawyers across the country on personal injury issues, said the jury’s verdict for punitive damages was a very high one.

“Those punitive damages could be reduced later by the trial judge or the appellate court,” O’Brien said. “I think the jury awarding those high punitive damages is trying to send a message to Harley … that safety should be the top priority.”

Morris said he and SinClair had hoped to spend their retirement years traveling across the country on their Harley, camping and taking in the stunning scenery, a dream that ended with SinClair’s death, he said.

“I haven’t ridden a motorcycle since that second accident,” he said. “I have no plans to ever do so.”