A lawsuit filed by the family of a Lecompton woman killed last year in a vehicle wreck contributed to the closing last week of a Topeka business.

AARDS Home-Business Trash Service, Topeka, ceased operation Friday, citing competition, personnel problems and a $1.5 million lawsuit.

The company, 1530 N.W. Tyler St., was owned by Ray Cunningham for 22 years.

On Sept. 28, one of Cunningham’s drivers Arthur A. Sheltrown, 25 was involved in a vehicle accident that killed Dianne Hamersky, 33, of Lecompton. A Shawnee County Sheriff’s spokesman said Sheltrown, driving an AARDS trash truck on Northwest 86th Street in Topeka, failed to stop at a stop sign and hit the driver’s side of a vehicle driven by Hamersky while she was southbound on Northwest Wilson Road.

Hamersky’s family filed a lawsuit against Sheltrown and AARDS less than a month later, seeking more than $75,000 in relief for negligence and personal injury.

Inconsistent employment and the lawsuit hit Cunningham’s business hard as he was looking to expand to 10 or 12 routes. The lawsuit which is still pending in Shawnee County District Court caused Cunningham to cancel his plans for expansion, and, as workers quit, he couldn’t replace them.

The Shawnee County Health Agency is urging AARDS’ 6,000 customers to find a new trash service as soon as possible. The Shawnee County Refuse Department will pick up trash this week for AARDS customers.

Cunningham could not be reached for comment Sunday.