Top Individual Kentucky Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

Boone County Jury Returns $74 Million Verdict Against Eaton Asphalt in a Mother's Death

A Boone County jury found that Eaton Asphalt's improper repaving of Richwood Road created the edge drop-off that sent a flatbed truck into Amy Skiba's car, and awarded her three children $74 million.

A Parked Garbage Truck, a Hill, and a Thanksgiving Day Crash: $27.3 Million for Shannon Houchin

A Warren County jury awarded $27,335,667.87 after a Monarch Environmental garbage truck parked illegally on a rural Kentucky road put a 17-year-old in a coma for 57 days and left her with permanent brain damage.

Nurses Ignored Pitocin Orders, Leaving Newborn with Spastic Quadriplegia: $18.27 Million Verdict

A Barren County jury awarded $18.27 million after finding that nurses at T.J. Samson Community Hospital disregarded the treating obstetrician's standing Pitocin orders during a 2007 delivery, depriving newborn Tristan Hamilton of oxygen and leaving him with spastic quadriplegia.

$14.1 Million Settlement After College Wrestler Died of Heatstroke During Punishment Practice

The University of the Cumberlands paid $14.1 million to the family of Grant Brace, a 20-year-old wrestler who died of exertional heatstroke in August 2020 after coaches refused him water during a grueling punishment practice and failed to summon medical help.

A $12.8 Million Verdict After a 15,000-Pound Steel Coil Crushed a Delivery Driver at a Hopkinsville Auto Parts Plant

A Christian County jury found Martinrea Hopkinsville, LLC and its crane operator responsible for the 2015 death of delivery driver Gregory Sean Engleman, crushed by a steel coil weighing more than 15,000 pounds, and awarded his family $12,802,165, reported as a record personal injury verdict for the county.

After trial: No appeal or post-trial resolution has been reported. This entry reflects the jury's verdict.

$12 Million Settlement and Sweeping Police Reforms for the Family of Breonna Taylor, Killed in a Botched Louisville Raid

Ben Crump, alongside Louisville co-counsel Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker, settled the wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Breonna Taylor's mother against the City of Louisville for $12 million, the largest police-misconduct payout in the city's history, paired with a package of policing reforms the family made a non-negotiable condition of the deal.

$10 Million Verdict for Family of Christopher Short, Killed by Fatigued Marvin Keller Trucking Driver on I-64

An eight-person federal jury awarded $10 million to the widow and two children of Christopher Short, 44, who died when a Marvin Keller Trucking driver crossed the I-64 median in Bath County, Kentucky, in March 2019.

An $8 Million Verdict Against a Respirator Maker in the First Coal-Dust Mask Case to Reach Trial

A Knott County jury found that Mine Safety Appliances Co. sold dust masks it knew were inadequate to protect underground coal miners, awarding coal miner James Couch $8 million after he developed black lung disease, in what was reported as the first coal-dust respirator case in the country to go to trial.

After trial: MSA said it would seek review in the Kentucky trial and appellate courts. No published outcome of any further appeal has been found, so this entry reflects the jury's verdict.

Louisville Federal Jury Awards Sadler Family $7.24 Million Over Defective Cochlear Implant

A federal jury in Louisville awarded a Kentucky family $7.24 million, including $6.25 million in punitive damages, after a defective Advanced Bionics HiRes90K cochlear implant let moisture seep inside and violently shocked their young deaf daughter.

$3 Million Settlement After Rowan County School Officials Ignored Eight Abuse Reports

Minner Vines secured a $3 million settlement for a survivor who was repeatedly sexually abused by Rowan County teacher and coach Andrew Zaheri beginning at age 14, in a case believed to be the largest single-victim school sexual-abuse settlement in Kentucky history.

$1.84 Million After a Man Slipped on a Restroom Puddle at Kentucky Oaks Mall and Needed Two Spine Fusions

A McCracken County jury awarded a 64-year-old man $1,837,756.05 after he slipped on a puddle in a restroom at Kentucky Oaks Mall in Paducah and fractured himself onto the floor, requiring both lumbar and cervical spine fusion surgeries.

After trial: No appeal or further post-trial proceeding has been reported. This entry reflects the jury's verdict.

$1.5 Million After a Walmart Patio Chair Collapsed and a Shopper Needed Neck and Back Surgery

A Fayette County jury awarded a 59-year-old man $1.5 million against Walmart and chair manufacturer Adams Manufacturing Corporation after a plastic outdoor chair he sat in at a Lexington Walmart collapsed and he was injured.

After trial: No appeal or further post-trial proceeding has been reported. This entry reflects the jury's verdict.

$1.25 Million Settlement for Family of Man Shot 14 Times by LMPD Officers

Louisville Metro Government paid $1.25 million to the family of Darnell Wicker, a 57-year-old man shot 14 times by LMPD officers during a 2016 domestic-disturbance call in which he was holding a tree saw.

$1.2 Million Verdict for Fort Knox Soldier Clipped by AmeriGas Propane Truck on Jefferson County Road

A Jefferson County jury awarded $1,200,626 to a Fort Knox Staff Sergeant whose left arm was permanently impaired after an AmeriGas propane delivery truck drifted into his lane and clipped his motorcycle on Blevins Gap Road in September 2005.

$728,218 Jury Verdict After Jackknifed Tractor-Trailer Hits Cargo Van on Gene Snyder Freeway

Jonathan Hollan of Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers won a $728,218 jury verdict for a plaintiff whose cargo van was struck when a tractor-trailer jackknifed during rush-hour traffic on Louisville's Gene Snyder Freeway.

Clark County Jury Awards $601,853 After Rear-End Crash on Mountain Parkway Leaves Woman With Shoulder, Hip, and PTSD Injuries

A Clark County jury awarded $601,853 to a woman rear-ended in the rain on the Mountain Parkway, finding her shoulder and hip injuries, PTSD, and lost income were caused by the collision despite a defense claim that she had exaggerated her symptoms.

Jefferson County Jury Awards ~$495K in House of Boom Punching-Bag Case

A Louisville jury found House of Boom 60% liable after a patron broke his back striking an all-black punching bag during a lights-out event, resulting in damages of roughly $495,000 after comparative fault.

$375,000 Settlement After Federal Court Finds LMPD Violated Black Teen's Fourth Amendment Rights During Traffic Stop

Louisville agreed to pay $375,000 to resolve a federal civil rights lawsuit after a judge found that LMPD Detective Kevin Crawford unlawfully detained and searched 18-year-old Tae-Ahn Lea during a 2018 traffic stop that was captured on video and spread widely online.

Jury Holds All My Sons Moving 65% at Fault After Louisville Driver Hits Illegally Parked Truck

A Jefferson County jury returned a $356,893 verdict against All My Sons Moving after one of its drivers left a large box truck stopped on the roadside without adequate warning, causing a collision that fractured the plaintiff's ribs and produced a lasting sacroiliac joint injury.

Jury Awards $261,520 to Retired Florist Cut from Car After Head-On Crash on River Road

A Jefferson County jury took eight minutes to award a retired florist $261,520 after a head-on collision on River Road in Prospect left him trapped in his vehicle and seriously injured, with the verdict coming in a UIM coverage dispute against his own insurer.