Joliet Needs $1 Million To Approve Wrongful Death Settlement, End Negligence Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — At a time when many city of Joliet streets are not being repaired and older neighborhood sidewalks remain in a state of disrepair, Joliet's legal counsel is needing a $1 million budget amendment from the Joliet City Council to approve a wrongful death settlement. A city of Joliet utilities truck ran over 75-year-old Hector Castillo Esparza on May 22, 2024 shortly after 11 a.m. near Herkimer and Cass Streets.

"Hector Castillo of Joliet, aged 75, was abruptly taken too soon from this life on May 23, 2024. He was born the son of Vicente Castillo and Natalia Castillo (nee Esparza) in 1948 in Zacatecas, Mexico. He was the youngest in his family. He married Belen, and together they had three children and eleven grandchildren," according to his Tezak Funeral Home obituary. "He regularly donated his time and expertise towards all necessary handyman duties for the Vilaseca Daycare Center, and he also dedicated his free time to working on any number of woodworking projects, crafting beautiful items from wood. From practical pieces like dressers and other furniture to whimsical children’s toys, every creation he made was a true work of art."

According to a memo from Joliet's Corporation Counsel Todd Lenzie, he needs the City Council to approve an ordinance amending the 2026 Joliet Budget to fund the settlement for Castillo versus city of Joliet. The Council meeting will take place on Tuesday night.

"The purpose of this amendment is to allocate the necessary funds to address the City’s financial obligations arising from the settlement of this matter," Lenzie explained in his memo. 'The Castillo lawsuit is a negligence based action filed against the City, asserting claims for wrongful death and a survival action for pain and suffering. Throughout the litigation, the City incurred defense costs and related expenses associated with evaluating and responding to these claims.

"As part of the City’s self-insurance program, Joliet maintains a Self-Insurance Retention of $1 million dollars. The SIR is eroding, meaning that all qualifying litigation expenses, including attorney’s fees, expert costs, discovery related charges, and other defense expenditures, are deducted from the retention amount. As these expenses accumulated during litigation, the available balance within the City’s retention was reduced, impacting the total funding required to resolve the matter.

"All parties to the litigation, including the City’s insurance carriers, participated in mediation, in which a tentative settlement has been reached to resolve all claims brought in the Castillo matter. To finalize this settlement and properly account for the associated expenditures, including both the settlement amount and the litigation costs eroding the SIR, a budget amendment is required.

"Approving this amendment will ensure the City has sufficient appropriated funds to complete the settlement and formally conclude the claims."

Two summers ago, Joliet Patch wrote about the pedestrian fatality in a story headlined, Killed By City Of Joliet Vehicle: Coroner Reveals Victim's Name

According to the lawsuit complaint, the city of Joliet owned a Ford F350 pickup truck that a city of Joliet utilities department employee was driving. The employee initiated a left hand turn to eastbound Cass Street while Hector Castillo Esparza was a pedestrian within the crosswalk. He was crossing northbound on East Cass Street and "was at all times located within the pedestrian crosswalk ... employee struck Hector Castillo Esparaza, deceased ..."

The lawsuit accused the unnamed city of Joliet utilities department employee of negligence, failure to yield the right of way, failed to exercise due care to avoid colliding with Castillo and failure to take evasive action to avoid a collision. The lawsuit noted that Castillo died of his injuries the very next day, May 23, 2024. The lawsuit was filed by the Chicago law firm of Power Rogers and attorneys Larry Rogers Jr. and Jonathan M. Thomas.