A Los Gatos partner for consulting accounting giant PwC allegedly drank alcohol to more than twice the legal limit at a company lunch and in bars with colleagues afterward, then smashed his Tesla at high speed into a young man’s car on a South Bay highway, severely injuring the man, a lawsuit claims.
Ousmane Caba drove to San Francisco last June for a “partnership lunch” where he consumed alcohol supplied by the company, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, according to a lawsuit filed against him and PwC by John Cooper, the 22-year-old man Caba allegedly rear-ended and left with catastrophic injuries.
The lawsuit accuses PwC of having a “long history of mixing company-sponsored events with the overconsumption of alcohol.”
Caba and PwC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After lunch, Caba “hit the bars and nightclubs” and continued drinking with PwC partners as is “customary” following the lunches that celebrate incoming new partners, the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court alleged.
“After drinking all night,” the lawsuit claimed, “Caba stumbled from the bars in the early morning of June 3, 2023, and attempted to drive home. His blood alcohol was over twice the legal limit, and he was so drunk he was barely conscious.”
While driving erratically southbound on Highway 85, Caba sped up behind Cooper, a Santa Clara County resident driving home from work, at about 100 mph, “approaching Mr. Cooper’s car as if it were standing still,” the lawsuit alleged.
Caba’s Tesla alerted him to the presence of Cooper’s vehicle, “but due to (Caba’s) level of intoxication and excessive speed, (he) ignored the warning signs and plowed right into the rear of Mr. Cooper’s vehicle,” the lawsuit claimed. “The forceful collision nearly killed Mr. Cooper and resulted in numerous forceful impacts along with catastrophic and lifelong injuries.”
According to the lawsuit, Caba earlier this year pleaded no contest to charges related to the crash.
Cooper’s lawsuit accuses Caba and PwC of negligence, and seeks unspecified damages along with compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and lost future earnings.
