SPRINGFIELD — The husband of an Easthampton woman who was killed returning from JFK International Airport in January has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the transportation company he hired to bring his wife home, as well as the manufacturer of the tractor-trailer that crashed into the vehicle, causing her death.

In the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 14 in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Joseph Bock alleges that the companies are responsible for the death of his wife, Paula Garcia-Franks, a 52-year-old mother, climate activist and teacher.

Garcia-Franks, who was coming home from visiting her father and five brothers in Spain, was killed at 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 9 when the taxi, a 2015 Nissan Rogue, she was riding in northbound on Interstate 91 in Hartford decelerated, causing the tractor-trailer behind to hit the vehicle. Garcia-Franks was pronounced dead at the scene, a day before her birthday.

Bock, represented by attorney Mark Salomone, claims in the lawsuit that the parent company for the Freightliner brand tractor trailer, known as Daimler Trucks North America (or DTNA), had since 2015 incorporated safety systems capable of implementing automatic braking in the event of a collision and that the truck involved in the crash, a 2024 model, should have been equipped with safety equipment that would have prevented the death of Garcia-Franks.

“When DTNA designed the subject truck, DTNA possessed safety systems that would have mitigated against and/or avoided the subject collision that injured and killed Plaintiff’s Decedent Paula Garcia Franks,” the lawsuit states, adding that the truck was “unfit and unsafe for the ordinary purposes for which it was intended.”

The lawsuit also claims that the car rental and limousine company hired to transport Garcia-Franks, Elife Tech, failed to properly vet drivers to ensure they had proper insurance coverage and also failed to safely and properly maintain the driver’s vehicle.

“Due to Defendant Elife Tech Inc.’s negligent hiring, training and supervision, Paula Garcia-Franks was caused to sustain fatal injuries,” it states. “Elife Tech Inc., breached its legal duty and thereby committed gross negligence when it acted with reckless disregard for the safety of Paula Garcia-Franks.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, Salomone’s office claimed that Elife Tech had a shell business address in Burlingame, Calif., and has yet to respond regarding any inquiries regarding the case, raising the possibility the company may be uninsured.

“There were so many different things that went so wrong, and on so many levels, that fundamental fairness requires extraordinary compensation,” Salomone said in the statement. “Paula’s tragic accident illustrates the dangers people face every day due to limo drivers and transportation companies that ignore state and federal transportation laws.”

Salomone’s office also claimed that the driver of the Nissan Rogue involved in the fatal crash, identified in the lawsuit as Weihua Zou of Albany, New York, maintained no insurance coverage on the vehicle, and that the Nissan Rogue had been involved in a serious crash less than six months earlier.

Garcia Franks had been highly active in the local community, running a foreign-exchange program with children from Spain and participating in climate-related activism, and her death came to a shock to many in Easthampton who knew her.

In addition to Bock, Garcia-Franks is survived by three children.

Strict state and federal laws govern limousine drivers and companies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.

On the federal level, limousine drivers and for-hire passenger carriers that engage in interstate commerce (meaning they transport people from one state to another) must register with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These for-hire passenger carriers must also meet certain FMCSA requirements, including maintaining at least $1.5 million in insurance coverage per vehicle for vehicles transporting less than 15 passengers. For-hire passenger carriers transporting 16 or more people from one state to another must have at least $5 million in insurance coverage per vehicle.

As for statewide limousine driver requirements, Connecticut requires limousine drivers to have a Public Service Passenger License Endorsement (PSL). In New York and Massachusetts, limousine drivers must have a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) with a Passenger endorsement.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.