PITTSBURGH - With the wrongful death lawsuit brought on behalf of former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins coming to a close, a federal judge has refused to silence any concerns his widow has with a documentary planned by his parents.
The sudden death of the 24-year-old in 2022 in Florida has led to litigation in Pennsylvania courts between his wife Kalabrya Haskins and his family, father Dwayne Sr., mother Tamara and sister Tamia.
Haskins, a standout at Ohio State University selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the then-Washington Redskins, only played 16 games in his career before being struck by a dump truck on I-595 near Fort Lauderdale.
Haskins' rental truck had run out of gas and he was attempting to walk to a gas station. The toxicology report showed a blood alcohol level of .24 and several drugs in his system, with ensuing wrongful death litigation claiming he was drugged and robbed by a group blackmailing him before his death.
The defendants accused of that were later dropped from the lawsuit. Media reports in December noted the closure of the case and the confidential nature of settlements, but documents obtained by the Pennsylvania Record total the value of all settlements with other defendants at $1,619,500.
Notable figures include $750,000 from Progressive Specialty Insurance for underinsured motorist liability benefits and $500,000 from Sorrel Development, the owner of the dump truck that killed Haskins. The Florida Department of Transportation paid $10,000.
The case was pursued by Plantation, Fla., attorney Rick Ellsley, who made $489,080.87 from his contingency fee and reimbursement for expenses. That leaves Kalabrya with $1,130,419.13 that is the subject of a dispute over whether Dwayne Haskins' parents and sister are entitled to any funds as wrongful death beneficiaries.
Kalabrya has written that Haskins' relationship with his parents was "completely non-supportive" and that she is the only one of his heirs entitled to recovery of wrongful death proceeds.
The sides are also fighting over money from at least three accounts. Haskins listed his sister Tamia as a beneficiary on his Charles Schwab account, receiving 60%, while his parents were entitled to the other 40% as beneficiaries, they say.
Wife Kalabrya disputed this, leading to litigation in Allegheny County.
Elsewhere in Pennsylvania courts, Haskins' parents and sister last year asked a federal judge to prevent Kalabrya from interfering with a documentary they have planned on his life.
They claim since Haskins' death, Kalabrya has harassed them whenever they have tried to use his name, image and likeness on social media. It is alleged she contacted Instagram in May to have Dwayne Sr.'s and Tamia's accounts disabled because of posts relating to Haskins.
The family's attorney asked Kalabrya to formally assure them she would no longer pursue the deactivation of the Instagram accounts "or any other such actions," which Kalabrya rejected.
With a documentary allegedly nearly complete, Judge William Stickman IV was asked to issue a declaratory judgment that said Kalabrya couldn't take any legal measures to undermine the project.
But since the doc isn't complete and Kalabrya hasn't taken any such actions, the issue isn't ready for judicial review, he wrote Jan. 27.
"If the Court were to find in favor of Plaintiffs, Defendant's future plans of action may be affected to the extent that Defendant would (presumably) not be able to 'undermine' Plaintiff's documentary project," Stickman wrote.
"Notably, this logic assumes that Defendant intends to challenge the documentary project. However, if the Court were to find in favor of Defendant, the decision would have minimal utility.
"Plaintiffs would likely continue producing their documentary project and Defendant would be free to challenge th project in any manner that she wishes - the same outcome that may occur if the Court withholds judgment."