Top Personal Injury Settlements of 2022

Family of Two Children Killed in I-30 Truck Fire Settles With Werner for $150 Million

Before dawn on May 24, 2020, a Werner Enterprises tractor-trailer struck the rear of a passenger car stopped in a live lane of Interstate 30 near Sulphur Springs, Texas, with two children, ages 7 and 9, inside. The car caught fire and both children died. Their parents sued Werner and its driver, alleging negligent and grossly negligent operation of the tractor-trailer, negligent hiring, training, and supervision of the driver, and negligent entrustment of the truck. In July 2022, Werner announced it had agreed to pay $150 million to resolve the case without a trial, funded by the company and its insurance carriers. Goudarzi & Young, through founding partner Brent Goudarzi, represented the family.

After trial: Pre-trial settlement, so there was no verdict to appeal. Werner's SEC filing states the $150 million was funded by the company and its insurance carriers.

$40.35 Million Confidential Settlement After Missed Ribcage Finding Let Child's Cancer Reach Spinal Canal

A South Carolina family reached a confidential $40.35 million settlement, structured under a high-low agreement, after radiologists reading a newborn's early chest X-rays missed a ribcage deformity that turned out to be a sign of neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that grew into the child's spinal canal and caused permanent paralysis before it was caught.

After trial: The settlement is confidential. No court, case number, or plaintiff name has been made public, and the claim that this is the largest personal injury settlement in South Carolina history comes from the firm rather than from independent verification.

$20 Million Settlement After Coworker Called an Elevator While a 65-Year-Old Mechanic Stood on Top

Lennox Hinckson, a 65-year-old elevator mechanic, was crushed and fell roughly 60 feet at Holcim's cement plant in Holly Hill, South Carolina, after a Holcim employee called the elevator he was working on from a floor below. His estate settled wrongful death and negligence claims against Holcim for $20 million.

After trial: The case settled before trial for $20 million; there was no verdict for either side to appeal, and no further litigation has been publicly reported.

$16 Million Settlement for Woman Sexually Assaulted at Rodeway Inn While Hotel Security Watched

Justin Shapiro of Leesfield and Partners secured a $16 million settlement for a 67-year-old woman who was beaten and sexually assaulted in the open hallway of a northwest Miami-Dade Rodeway Inn while hotel employees and the property's security guard stood by and did nothing.

A Warehouse Visit, Falling Marble Slabs, and a $12 Million Wrongful-Death Settlement

Behzad "Al" Abedi was killed when stacked marble slabs fell on him at a Charlotte stone warehouse in 2019, and DeMayo Law Offices resolved his family's premises- and products-liability claims for $12 million.

City of Rochester Settles Daniel Prude Wrongful Death Suit for $12 Million

Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Rochester man in the middle of a mental health crisis, died in March 2020 after police officers put a spit hood over his head and held him face down on the pavement until he stopped breathing. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from asphyxia during restraint, though a state grand jury declined to indict the officers. Elliot D. Shields of Roth & Roth, LLP filed the family's federal civil rights suit against the City of Rochester in September 2020. On October 6, 2022, a federal judge approved a $12 million settlement, split evenly between pain-and-suffering and wrongful death claims, with the city admitting no liability.

After trial: Settlement approved by a federal judge on October 6, 2022 and funded by the City of Rochester, which denied liability. Because the case ended in a settlement, there was no judgment to appeal.

$11.75 Million Settlement After Deputies Twice Walked Past an Unconscious, Beaten 18-Year-Old Inmate

Brian Ortiz, 18, was beaten by another inmate at Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail; deputies saw him unconscious during two separate walkthroughs and did not intervene, and he did not reach a hospital until more than two hours after the assault. Maricopa County settled the resulting civil rights lawsuit for $11.75 million.

After trial: The case settled in 2022 without a trial, so there was no verdict for either side to appeal. No further litigation between the Ortiz family and Maricopa County has been publicly reported.

$11 Million Settlement After Highway Crew Blocked Both Lanes and a Log Truck Crushed a Couple's Vehicle

A highway maintenance contractor whose crew illegally blocked both lanes of Georgia Highway 4 paid $11 million after a jackknifed log truck crushed the vehicle of a married couple, killing the husband and severely injuring his wife.

$10.8 Million Settlement for Navy Veteran Who Lost Leg in I-5 Chain-Reaction Crash

A Navy veteran lost his right leg and the use of his arm after a Navy-operated van triggered a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 5; CaseyGerry secured a $10.8 million settlement, described as the largest federal vehicle-collision settlement in San Diego history.

$10 Million From Lucia Mar School District After Bus Driver With Prior Conviction Abused Student

Lucia Mar Unified School District agreed to pay $10 million in May 2022 to settle negligence claims brought on behalf of a nine-year-old special-needs girl who was repeatedly sexually abused by a school bus driver in 2017, a driver the district had hired despite a prior peeping conviction he concealed on his application.

LAUSD Pays Parents $9.5 Million After 12-Year-Old Collapses in P.E. and Staff Delay 911 Call

A 12-year-old boy collapsed after running laps in P.E. at Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes on March 6, 2018, and died. His parents sued the Los Angeles Unified School District, alleging staff did not call 911 or use CPR or a defibrillator and that a school policy delayed the call. After a judge allowed the negligence claim to proceed, the parties settled in March 2022 as trial was set to begin, and the $9.5 million figure was reported that September.

After trial: The case settled before trial, so there was no verdict or appeal. The district did not publicly state how or when the payment was made, and the sources report no admission of liability.

$9 Million Settlement for Family of Teen Who Died of Heat Stroke During Football Practice

Adamson Ahdoot LLP secured a $9 million settlement for the family of a 15-year-old Jurupa Valley student who died three days after collapsing during a 104-degree football practice, after coaches failed to provide water, shade, or emergency care.

$9 Million Settlement, Connecticut's Largest to One Person, for Videotaped Abuse at Forensic Hospital

W.S., a profoundly mentally ill man committed to Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut since 1995, was kicked, hit, doused with liquids, pelted with food, made to wear a diaper on his head and sexually humiliated by the nurses and aides paid to care for him. Hospital cameras captured more than 50 incidents in 24 days in early 2017. Nearly 40 employees were fired, ten were arrested, nine were convicted and eight went to prison. His brother and conservator sued the state in 2018, and in June 2022, after the legislature signed off, Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis approved a $9 million settlement that his lawyer said was the largest the state had ever paid a single person. The state also waived more than $8 million in custody charges and agreed to keep him under constant video monitoring.

After trial: The $9,000,000 was approved by the legislature's Judiciary Committee in April 2022 and by Judge Barbara Bellis on June 28, 2022, and is paid by the State of Connecticut. The settlement also waived more than $8,000,000 in state custody charges and imposed ongoing video monitoring. See more

$8 Million Settlement After Clinic Documented Signs of Abuse on Infant and Never Reported Them

Alexandria Orduna brought her son to a Brewer clinic repeatedly from the time he was four days old. Staff saw and documented red-flag signs of physical abuse and never told her and never reported it to the state, as Maine law requires. At about six and a half months old he was beaten so badly he nearly died. He is permanently blind and brain-injured.

After trial: Approved by the court and final at $8,000,000. A tentative $10,000,000 figure was announced in February 2022, but the settlement approved in August 2022 was $8,000,000. See more

Silver Cross Hospital Settles for $8 Million After Woman Dies From Untreated Septic Kidney Infection

Silver Cross Hospital paid $8 million on the first day of jury selection to resolve a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a 61-year-old woman who died within 26 hours of admission after hospital staff failed to treat a septic kidney infection that records showed was apparent within two hours of her arrival.

West Valley-Mission Community College District Pays $7.6 Million to Disabled Student Raped by Campus Aide

A developmentally disabled college student won a $7.6 million settlement after Raymond Ruiz, an instructional aide in Mission College's disability program, sexually assaulted her on campus in May 2020 while the district ignored longstanding warning signs about his conduct.

$7.5 Million Settlement for Adoptive Family in San Bernardino County Foster Care Abuse Case

A federal civil rights suit brought by adoptive parents William and Michelle Mueller, and the boy's adoptive grandfather, accused San Bernardino County and a Children and Family Services social worker of concealing a younger foster child's abuse by his older brother before the adoption. The county settled in August 2022 for $7.5 million plus attorney fees, with court approval, before trial. The county did not admit liability.

Two Cousins Killed in Drunk-Driving Crash; Bars and Driver Pay $7.36 Million

A 21-year-old driver who was overserved at two Spartanburg bars struck and killed two cousins at over 70 mph, leading to a $7.36 million wrongful death settlement paid by the bars and the driver.

$7.3 Million Settlement for Family of Woman Who Died After Botched Endoscopy at Joliet Hospital

The family of Michelle Swallow, 30, recovered $7.3 million after a bile duct procedure at Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet created an unrepaired bowel leak that led to fatal sepsis.

$5.97 Million Settlement for Family After Fatal Head-On Crash With Ice Cream Truck in Osage County

Brown & Crouppen helped Zachary Patchin's family reach a $5.97 million settlement after an Ice Cream Factory box truck crossed into oncoming traffic in a no-passing zone and killed both drivers on U.S. 50 in Osage County, Missouri.