The estate of a West Sunbury man who died, along with his passenger, in June 2023 when the motorcycle he was driving hit a pickup truck on Route 38 in Eau Claire is suing two bars where he was drinking before the crash.

The suit was filed Wednesday, May 1, in Common Pleas Court on behalf of Zachary McGregor, who was 32 when he died after his motorcycle crashed on June 11 and also killed his 31-year-old passenger Caleb A. Kiely of Petrolia.

Named as defendants are Otto’s Tavern in Emlenton along with owners Darryl Schiberl and Melvin Schiberl, and the Paul W. Wood VFW Post 7840 in Emlenton. The suit seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.

The wrongful death suit argues staff at both bars were negligent by serving alcoholic beverages to McGregor while he was visibly intoxicated, and that his death was the result of that negligence.

McGregor lost control of the motorcycle while negotiating a curve and slid into the opposite lane where Jodi Miller was traveling, according to the suit.

Butler attorney Tom King filed the suit on behalf of estate administrators Jeremy McGregor and Lewis McGregor Jr., and Brooke Schwab, the mother of Zachary McGregor’s two children.

The Emlenton woman who was driving the pickup and her husband, Ronald Miller, filed a similar suit last year against the estate and the same two bars. That suit remains active.

A report filed by state police June 12, the day after the crash, does not say McGregor was intoxicated or that alcohol was a factor. The report indicates he might have been speeding.

Neither suit says what led to the allegation that McGregor was impaired.

The Schiberls and the VFW could not be reached for comment Friday.