Triple J Sued by Crash Victims

The couple that was seriously injured on August 10, when a Triple J employee drove a company car into the Autospot showroom in Hagatna, has sued Triple J and the employee, Bintenson Simina, in local court Tuesday. Michael Guzman and Jomayne Guzman, who nearly died from the assault, are suing for general damages, economic damages, non-economic damages, and for the full measure of any insurance payout.

“Plaintiffs sustained serious injuries when Defendent Bintenson, an employee of Triple J, was intoxicated while driving a 2024 Honda HR-V, a vehicle owned by Triple J, crashed the vehicle through the front window of Auto Spot’s showroom,” the lawsuit alleges. “Plaintiffs were present inside the Auto Spot showroom at the time of the Incident and were struck by the vehicle driven by Defendant Bintenson, which propelled them across the showroom floor, resulting in serious injuries.”

According to the lawsuit, the charges filed against Mr. Simina, sources, and witness accounts, Mr. Simina allegedly was an on-duty employee of Triple J when he drove a Triple J vehicle at a high rate of speed and while intoxicated into the Auto Spot showroom. Triple J officials said Mr. Simina was not on duty at the time.

Screen shots of WhatsApp messages Kandit obtained show that 47 minutes after the crash occurred, another Triple J employee in a chatroom titled “Down With The Syndrome” asked an Auto Spot employee, “did you get our gift?”

“The message you referenced was sent to a private chat group over which we have no control,” Triple J Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Kristine Lujan wrote to Kandit in response to our inquiry on the matter on August 12. “The employee involved has been counseled and has expressed deep regret, feeling embarrassed and ashamed for his actions. He was unaware of any injuries at the time the message was sent, and he has since apologized.”

“At all relevant times, Defendant Bintenson was an employee of Defendant Triple J, acting within the scope of his employment and performing duties for the benefit of Triple J,” the lawsuit states. “Specifically, at the time of the Incident, Defendant Bintenson was driving a vehicle owned by Triple J with the knowledge, permission, and consent of Triple J and in furtherance of this employment duties.”

According to the lawsuit, Triple J “is vicariously liable for the negligent and reckless actions of Defendant Bintenson, who was acting within the course and scope of his employment and carrying out Triple J’s business interests at the time he caused injuries to Plaintiffs,” under the doctrine of respondeat superior.

“Respondeat superior is the doctrine that states that an employer is responsible for an employee,” Yale Law School Professor of Law Daniel Greenwood wrote for Hofstra University. “More precisely, it states that a master is liable for torts of its servants committed in the course of their service.”

“Defendant Triple J had a duty to exercise reasonable care in supervising and monitoring its employees’ use of company vehicles to ensure safe operation and prevent foreseeable risks to the public,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit went on to allege that the company knew that allowing its employees unrestricted access to its vehicles without any adequate regulatory guardrails to ensure the safety of the public could result in someone getting hurt.

“As a direct a proximate result of Defendant Triple J’s failure to exercise proper supervision and monitoring over its vehicles and employees, Plaintiffs suffered serious injuries, pain, and suffering, and incurred significant economic and non-economic injuries,” the lawsuit states.

A confidential source has said that Ms. Guzman still is in the hospital recovering from her significant injuries. Guam hospital witnesses and other sources have attested that Auto Spot executive Donna Muna Quinata and her twin sister Tina Muna Barnes often visited the Guzmans in the hospital to pray for them. Auto Spot also donated about $10,000 to the victims, according to another source familiar with the response to the assault.

Shortly after the assault, the Guzmans’ family began a GoFundMe page to help the couple to defray their significant medical bills and other financial burdens as a result of their life-changing tragedy.

The Guzmans are also suing Auto Spot and unnamed insurance companies from which Auto Spot might have policies. The allegations against Auto Spot are that the company should have foreseen that its large and unblocked windows facing the main road and being so close to it could pose serious danger to Auto Spot employees and patrons.

Auto Spot normally and regularly blocks its showroom frontage with its cars for sale. However, according to sources, at the time the assault happened, Auto Spot employees had just moved cars from the front of its northern showroom and were preparing to place other cars there.