Family Awarded $247 Million After Truck Blocking Highway Killed Their Son
After trial: The jury's $260 million damages finding was cut by 5 percent under Texas's proportionate-responsibility statute for Riley McPherson's own comparative fault. The $247 million net figure comes from contemporaneous reporting of the family's counsel; we have not seen the signed judgment itself, though the arithmetic matches the jury's apportionment. Jefferson Trucking, Timothy Wayne Jefferson, and Eric Wayne Jefferson appealed to the Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana (No. 06-19-00023-CV), then voluntarily moved to dismiss their own appeal before the court ruled on the merits; the court granted the dismissal and taxed the appeal costs to the defendants on May 29, 2019, leaving the trial court judgment intact. No source confirms whether the judgment was paid in full or later resolved by a confidential settlement.
Won by Goudarzi & Young, L.L.P..
On February 13, 2016, 21-year-old Riley McPherson was killed on U.S. 271 near Gilmer, Texas, when his van struck the side of a Jefferson Trucking flatbed tractor-trailer that was blocking all four lanes of the highway while its driver, on hour 17 of a run home from Ohio, tried to back it into a private driveway. McPherson's parents, Eddie McPherson and Karen Pearson, sued Jefferson Trucking, driver Eric Wayne Jefferson, and Timothy Wayne Jefferson in the 115th District Court of Upshur County. On November 8, 2018, a jury apportioned 65 percent fault to Eric Jefferson, 20 percent to Jefferson Trucking, 10 percent to Timothy Jefferson, and 5 percent to McPherson, and set damages at $260 million, which the comparative-fault finding reduced to $247 million. The defendants appealed, then voluntarily dismissed their own appeal, leaving the trial court judgment intact.
What happened
Riley McPherson was 21 years old and worked as a painter. On February 13, 2016, he was driving south on U.S. 271 near Gilmer, Texas, when his van struck the side of a flatbed tractor-trailer loaded with steel pipe that sat across the roadway, blocking both northbound and both southbound lanes. The truck's driver, Eric Wayne Jefferson, had pulled out of a private driveway and was attempting to back the rig in again when the collision happened. McPherson was killed.
At the time of the crash, Jefferson had been driving the truck for 17 hours on a run home from Ohio, well past the limit set by federal hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers. McPherson's parents, Eddie McPherson and Karen Pearson, sued Jefferson, Jefferson Trucking, LLC, and Timothy Wayne Jefferson in the 115th District Court of Upshur County. Beyond the driver's own conduct, the case turned on hiring: the parents argued that the companies were responsible for putting a driver they had reason to know was unsafe behind the wheel of the rig. Liability was contested, and the jury ultimately assigned McPherson himself a share of the responsibility for the crash.
The case was tried before Judge Lauren Parish. On November 8, 2018, the jury divided responsibility for the crash: 65 percent to Eric Jefferson, 20 percent to Jefferson Trucking, 10 percent to Timothy Wayne Jefferson, and 5 percent to McPherson himself.
The jury set total damages at $260 million. Eddie McPherson was awarded $80 million for past and future loss of companionship and $60 million for past and future mental anguish. Karen Pearson was awarded $60 million for past and future loss of companionship and $60 million for past and future mental anguish. Because the jury had assigned 5 percent of the fault to McPherson himself, Texas's proportionate-responsibility rule cut the award by that share, and the family's counsel reported the net recovery at $247 million. Coverage at the time described it as the largest compensatory verdict in Texas history for a death caused by an 18-wheeler.
Jefferson Trucking, Timothy Wayne Jefferson, and Eric Wayne Jefferson appealed to the Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana. Before the appeal was decided on the merits, the defendants moved to dismiss their own appeal. The court of appeals granted the motion under Rule 42.1(a)(1) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and taxed the costs of the appeal to the defendants on May 29, 2019, leaving the trial court judgment as the judgment of record. No public record shows whether the judgment was ultimately paid in full or resolved through a later, confidential agreement.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Longview News-Journal, November 2018: names Goudarzi & Young of Gilmer as the firm for Riley McPherson's parents, identifies the defendants (Jefferson Trucking, Eric Wayne Jefferson, Timothy Wayne Jefferson), the presiding judge (115th District Judge Lauren Parish), the $260 million verdict, the flatbed trailer carrying steel pipe blocking lanes in both directions, and the driver's 17-hour run home from Ohio
- 2.CBS19 (KYTX, Tyler, Texas), November 2018: reports the Gilmer firm Goudarzi & Young won the $260 million verdict for the McPherson family and characterizes it as the largest 18-wheeler death compensatory verdict in Texas history
- 3.Law360, 'The Biggest Trucking Injury Awards Of 2018' (reprint): independent trade-press reporting of the $260 million November 2018 verdict, the crash facts (van versus tractor-trailer blocking two northbound and two southbound lanes), the 17 hours of driving, the per-parent damages breakdown ($80M and $60M to Eddie McPherson, $60M and $60M to Karen Pearson), and the cause number 16-00247 in the District Court of Upshur County
- 4.Top Class Actions, 2018-11-30: the fault apportionment (65 percent Eric Jefferson, 20 percent Jefferson Trucking, 10 percent Timothy Jefferson, 5 percent McPherson), the negligent-hiring theory, the per-parent damages breakdown, and the report that the $260 million verdict would be reduced by five percent for McPherson's own fault
- 5.Texas Sixth Court of Appeals, No. 06-19-00023-CV (on Justia): appellants Jefferson Trucking, Timothy Wayne Jefferson, and Eric Wayne Jefferson moved to dismiss their own appeal from the 115th District Court of Upshur County; the motion was granted under Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a)(1) and the appeal was dismissed May 29, 2019
- 6.CourtListener mirror of the same Sixth Court of Appeals disposition (Trial Ct. No. 16-00247), confirming the parties and that the trial court judgment was left undisturbed
- 7.The National Law Journal 'Top 100 Verdicts of 2018' (June 2019), compiled by NLJ affiliate VerdictSearch: entry 12 lists McPherson v. Jefferson Trucking, LLC; Upshur Co., Texas, Dist. Ct. 115th; No. 16-00247; Nov. 8, 2018; $260,000,000; lead plaintiff's attorneys Brent Goudarzi and Marty Young, Goudarzi & Young, LLP, Gilmer, Texas. Ranking list, so corroboration for the attorney names rather than standalone attribution; it does not report the comparative-fault reduction
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