Mavis lawyers say last two limo crash victims shouldn't be allowed to amend complaints

ALBANY - Lawyers for Mavis Discount Tire argue in new court papers that the estates of the last two victims of the 2018 Schoharie limousine crash shouldn't be allowed to revise their wrongful death lawsuits against the national auto repair shop chain.

Mavis was sued by the families of the 20 people who died in the horrific crash, the worst highway transportation disaster in the U.S. in decades.

Seventeen people and the limo driver, including multiple sets of siblings and newlyweds, mostly in their 20s, had rented the limo on Oct. 6, 2018, for a birthday celebration where they planned to go party at a Cooperstown brewery.

Brian Premo, an attorney representing victim Michael Ukaj, a Marine who fought in Iraq, filed a motion in state Supreme Court in Albany County, where discovery is being overseen, to amend his complaint with new accusations. Premo has said this is needed after he reviewed hundreds of hours of video from the Saratoga Springs Mavis store where the limo's owner, Nauman Hussain, would bring the limo for service. The estate of the limo driver, Scott Lisinicchia, has also sought to amend its complaint along with Premo. They are the only victims' estates that have yet to reach a financial settlement with Mavis.

In March 2018, seven months before the crash, a state Department of Transportation investigator ordered the limo off the road after it failed a roadside inspection. The most serious violation involved a vice-grip that had been attached to a brake hose on a rear caliper. Hussain was told he had to fix the violations before he could rent it out to the public again.

Hussain brought the limo to the Saratoga Springs Mavis that May for brake work and a state inspection. At trial, the Mavis store manager testified that Mavis had billed Hussain for brake work that was never done and parts, like the brake master cylinder, that were never installed. He also testified that Mavis put a state Department of Motor Vehicles inspection sticker on the limo without doing any of the mandated safety checks or examining the brakes. Hussain had complained about the brake pedal going to the ground. DMV inspection stations like Mavis are not used for limo inspections in New York, which requires stretch limos over a certain capacity, like the stretch 2001 Ford Excursion, to go through inspections by the DOT, since the safety inspection standards are so rigorous.

In a Feb. 6 filing in state Supreme Court in Albany, lawyers for Mavis said Premo should not be allowed to amend the complaint since lawyers for the victims were given the videos many years ago. Premo says he only received the videos in question after getting them from the State Police.

"Nearly five years after plaintiffs filed their initial complaints against Mavis, they now seek leave to amend their pleadings to add new causes of action and essentially replead their claims against Mavis," lawyers for Mavis wrote. "The new causes of action asserted in the proposed amended complaints are palpably insufficient and meritless."

Mavis declined to comment for this story.

Mavis had to hold off on filing its papers opposing the amended complaint for several months. Premo sought to have the lawyers hired by Mavis removed from the case because they had assisted police and prosecutors in tracking down witnesses and Mavis employees. That motion was denied recently, allowing Mavis to file its opposition papers. Even if the judge rules in favor of Mavis on amending the current complaint, the two remaining cases are still headed for trial, with depositions being likely scheduled for later this year.

Hussain, the limo operator, was found guilty of manslaughter in the 20 deaths. Prosecutors told jurors at the 2023 trial that Hussain repeatedly ignored warnings by the DOT that not only was the Excursion dangerous due to bad brakes, Hussain had failed to obtain DOT authority to operate legally. Stretch limo owners who carry passengers for hire are required to follow strict safety guidelines and to have drug and alcohol testing protocols. Stretch limos, due to their size, also require special inspections every six months by the DOT. Hussain never followed any of those requirements after purchasing the Excursion used in 2016 for a few thousand dollars, according to prosecutors. The previous owner, an established Albany limo company, had decided to sell the Excursion and other older vehicles at the time because it cost too much to get them to pass inspection.

Backed by private equity investors, Mavis is headquartered in White Plains and has grown from what was Vic's Cycle Shop in 1949 to now 3,500 locations, becoming one of the largest car repair shop chains in North America. The company has grown by both acquisition and by opening new stores.

In June, Mavis acquired Midas, the well-known auto repair chain with 1,200 locations in the U.S. and Canada, although terms were not revealed. Mavis is privately held and does not make its financial information public.

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This story was originally published February 11, 2026 at 3:38 PM.