No use trying over spilt milk, court says

The court noted the company's argument that the driver didn't report the accident in which he knocked over another trailer until the end of his shift. The company also claimed the driver apparently tried to conceal part of the damage to the truck with axle grease.

The Associated Press

9/19/2008

ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York court has ruled that a trucker's case can't be tried over spilled milk.

A New York appellate court refused to allow a truck driver's claim to unemployment insurance to continue, saying he was rightly fired for failing to report that he got in an accident that spilled thousands of gallons of milk to the ground.

Raymond Schaffer of Endicott, Broome County, sought unemployment insurance compensation from his employer, Byrne Dairy, following the Feb. 1, 2007 accident.

But the court noted the company's argument that the driver didn't report the accident in which he knocked over another trailer until the end of his shift. The company also claimed the driver apparently tried to conceal part of the damage to the truck with axle grease.

Attempts to find a telephone listing for Schaffer were unsuccessful.