$163.97 Million Verdict for Quadriplegic Woman in GEICO Tow Truck Crash
After trial: The Kentucky Court of Appeals threw the verdict out in July 2026, holding that GEICO could not be held vicariously liable for the negligence of a tow-truck driver it had subcontracted through its roadside assistance program. The panel also ordered a new trial on damages against the driver and Midnight Recovery over an evidentiary error, and revived claims against four Louisville Metro 911 operators the trial court had dismissed.
Won by Dolt, Thompson, Shepherd, Conway & Stanton, PSC and Gray & White Law.
A Jefferson Circuit Court jury awarded $163,973,760 to Jilianne Warner, who was left permanently quadriplegic after a GEICO-dispatched tow truck plowed into her stopped car at highway speed; the verdict was later overturned on appeal.
What happened
On December 29, 2017, Jilianne Warner, then 27 years old, was stopped at a red light on Greenbelt Highway in Louisville when a flatbed tow truck owned by Midnight Recovery, Inc. struck her car from behind at roughly 65 to 70 miles per hour. The driver, Christian Worley, was en route to a roadside assistance call dispatched by GEICO. Distracted and fatigued, Worley never slowed down before impact.
The collision crushed Warner's cervical spine at the C4-6 level, leaving her permanently quadriplegic. She spent three weeks in intensive care. The injuries are irreversible: she has no independent mobility and lives with chronic complications including bladder and bowel dysfunction. During her recovery she also sustained a fractured leg in a wheelchair fall.
Mark Gray and Matthew White of Gray and White Law, joined by co-counsel Tyler S. Thompson and Liz J. Shepherd of Dolt Thompson, tried the case across two phases in Jefferson Circuit Court. Worley admitted his negligence caused the crash. The central dispute at trial was whether GEICO bore vicarious liability for Midnight Recovery's employee. Plaintiffs argued that towing is an inherently dangerous activity, which under Kentucky law strips a company of its usual shield against liability for independent contractors.
The jury agreed. On March 18, 2024, it returned a verdict of $163,973,760, including $141 million for pain and suffering alone. At the time, trial observers called it the largest single-plaintiff compensatory verdict in Kentucky history.
GEICO appealed. In 2025, the Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed the verdict against the insurer, ruling that Worley's inattentive driving at excessive speed created a new risk not inherent in towing operations, and that the inherently dangerous activity doctrine therefore did not apply to GEICO. The panel separately ordered a new trial on damages against Worley and Midnight Recovery, citing a trial-court error in admitting evidence about Worley's driving history. It also reinstated claims Warner had brought against Louisville Metro 911 operators, finding those claims were dismissed before discovery was complete. The case against the towing company and driver remains active.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Law360: Ky. Woman Gets $164M Verdict In Geico Roadside Crash (Mar. 19, 2024)
- 2.Exlitem / Jurimatic: $163M Auto Negligence Verdict After Tow Truck Accident Leaves Woman Paralyzed (2024)·Archived copy
- 3.American Tort Reform Association: Geico Casualty Company v. Jilianne Warner, et al. (amicus filing, 2025)·Archived copy
- 4.Business Insurance: Kentucky appeals court tosses $164M tow truck crash verdict (2025)·Archived copy
- 5.Kentucky Trial Court Review, 'Warner v. Midnight Recovery et al, 18-3622', July 2024·Archived copy
- 6.Law360 Insurance Authority, 'Ky. Woman Gets $164M Verdict In Geico Roadside Crash', Mar. 19, 2024
- 7.Amicus brief with service list, GEICO v. Warner, Ky. Ct. App. No. 2024-CA-1282-MR, May 27, 2025·Archived copy
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