$20 Million Verdict for a Boy Who Lost His Arm, Limited to $894,295 by Louisiana's Cap on State Claims
After trial: Reduced by statute, then reinstated on appeal and final. The $20,000,000 verdict (September 16, 2022) became a judgment of $894,295.45 plus interest under the Louisiana cap on damages against the State, and the First Circuit reinstated it on November 4, 2024 after a trial court JNOV.
Won by Tomeny Best Injury Lawyers.
On January 24, 2016 a father driving the LA-1 service road toward the I-10 ramp in Port Allen swerved onto the left shoulder to avoid a merging car and braked. The shoulder had been designed and built as asphalt but was covered in grass, clover and dirt, so the car slid about 213 feet into a guardrail that opened the side of the car. His 10-year-old son in the back seat lost his left arm above the elbow and suffered leg fractures and a shattered spleen. A jury awarded $20,000,000 and put 20 percent of the fault on the State. The cap on claims against the State produced a judgment of $894,295.45, which the trial judge wiped out and the First Circuit reinstated. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied review in April 2025.
What happened
At about 9:53 on the morning of January 24, 2016 a father was driving a rented Volkswagen Passat in the left lane of the two-lane, one-way LA-1 service road that leads to the I-10 East entrance ramp in Port Allen. His 10-year-old son sat behind him. Another driver merged left into his lane. He steered onto the left shoulder and braked.
The car did not stop. It slid roughly 213 feet across the shoulder and median into a guardrail, which opened up the driver's side of the car. The boy's left arm was severed above the elbow. It was recovered and surgeons tried to reattach it; the attempt failed. He also suffered a femur fracture, a tibia and fibula fracture and a shattered spleen, and went through roughly twenty surgeries. His medical bills reached $1,971,477. He is not named here.
The case against the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development came down to the shoulder. It had been designed and built as an asphalt shoulder. At the time of the crash it was covered over with grass, clover and dirt, and gave no braking traction. DOTD's own representative conceded that clearing it would have taken about four hours with a motor grader, and agreed that DOTD would be recklessly endangering the motoring public by not preserving the safest as-designed shoulder.
The case was tried in the 18th Judicial District Court in West Baton Rouge Parish, No. 1043264, before Judge Elizabeth A. Engolio. The parents' own claims had been dismissed, so the trial concerned only the boy's. On September 16, 2022 the jury found the road had a defect creating an unreasonable risk of harm, that DOTD had notice and a reasonable opportunity to fix it and did not, and awarded $20,000,000. It put 20 percent of the fault on DOTD, 40 percent on the father and 40 percent on the other driver.
Then Louisiana law took over. La. R.S. 13:5106 caps general damages against the State at $500,000 regardless of what a jury awards, and routes future medical care through the Future Medical Care Fund, here capped at $600,000. Past medicals were reduced by stipulation to $1,971,477.27. The judgment entered December 12, 2022 was $894,295.45 plus interest and costs, with future medical care payable through the fund.
DOTD then persuaded the trial judge to grant judgment notwithstanding the verdict on March 13, 2023, dismissing the case entirely. On November 4, 2024 the Louisiana First Circuit reversed, reinstated the jury verdict and reinstated the December 2022 judgment, and upheld the 40 percent of fault cast to the father. On April 1, 2025 the Louisiana Supreme Court denied DOTD's writ. The judgment is final.
Frank Tomeny III and Jennifer Kinberger of Tomeny Best Injury Lawyers in Baton Rouge tried the case with Arthur Bagwell of Bagwell & Bagwell in White Castle. Marcus J. Plaisance and Mark D. Plaisance handled the appeal.
The figure that circulates for this case is $4 million, the verdict reporter's early estimate of DOTD's 20 percent share before any judgment was entered. The real judgment is $894,295.45, and the reason is the cap.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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