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Judge upholds $2 million award in PennDOT worker death The Associated Press 03/02/2007 A judge upheld a $2 million jury award to the widow of a PennDOT employee killed while working on Route 41 by a driver with a suspended license. Advertisement A jury awarded Tara Jablonski $1.75 million under the Survival Act and $330,000 under the Wrongful Death Act in the April 30, 2001, death of her husband, Michael Jablonski. Lancaster County Judge Paul K. Allison rejected an appeal by the motorist, Richard V. Novak, on Wednesday after hearing arguments in December. Jablonski, 33, was installing road signs just south of Gap in Sadsbury Township when a pickup truck driven by Novak, 56, of Manor Township, sideswiped a car that stopped to make a left turn and veered onto the shoulder, striking Jablonski and crushing him against his PennDOT maintenance truck, police said. State police charged Novak with a felony count of accidents causing death while driving with a suspended license, as well as counts of careless driving, following too closely and driving while not properly licensed. Novak's attorney, J. Richard Gray, argued that the crash was an accident and the charge should not be a felony, and the felony charge was dismissed. Novak pleaded guilty to the summary offenses and paid a $402 fine.
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