BANGOR – The husband of a University of Maine professor killed two years ago in a car accident on the Pushaw Road in Glenburn has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Penobscot County Superior Court.
Steven Alexander, 37, of Glenburn is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Adelphia Cablevision Corp., former Cablevision employee Adrian Miller of Hermon, and Philip Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Landscaping in Brewer. Mitchell had the snowplowing contract in Glenburn when the accident occurred the morning of Dec. 16, 2003.
Michele Alexander, 37, was a faculty member in UM’s psychology department from 1999 until her death.
She was on her way to the university with her then 11-month-old son, Camden. He was in his car seat in the back seat when the accident occurred.
She died later that day as a result of injuries suffered in the accident on the snow-covered road. The boy was not seriously injured.
The lawsuit alleges that Miller was driving a Cablevision van that struck Michele Alexander’s car. It also claims that the company was negligent for allowing Miller, who allegedly has a long list of driving infractions, to drive a company vehicle. The tires on the van also were bald, the lawsuit alleges.
In addition, Steven Alexander’s lawsuit alleges that Mitchell did not properly plow the road as he was contracted to do by the town. Mitchell no longer has a plowing contract with Glenburn.
A trial date has not been set.
The defendants have 20 days after receipt of the lawsuit documents to file answers with the court. Answers had not been docketed with the complaint on Friday.
Alexander was driving her 1998 four-door Honda Accord DX west on Pushaw Road under the posted 35-mph speed limit when her car went into a spin, her husband’s attorney, N. Laurence Willey Jr. of Bangor, said Friday. The snow-packed, slushy road had not been properly cleared or sanded, he said.
The Cablevision van struck the front passenger door so hard that the inside of the car was pushed against Michele Alexander in the driver’s seat, according to Willey. An accident reconstructionist estimated Miller was driving the speed limit but was going too fast for road conditions, the attorney said Friday.
A month after her death, more than 200 people attended a three-hour memorial service for Michele Alexander at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono.
A native of Texas, she was described by then-UM President Peter Hoff as “a rising star on our faculty, much loved by her students and colleagues.”
The night before the accident, Michele Alexander had made gingerbread cookies to share with her co-workers. A Bangor bakery donated gingerbread cookies that were served at the service.
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