Top Individual Nebraska Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

$19.61 Million Verdict for Driver Hurt When a Concrete Truck Signaled Left, Then Turned Right Into Him

Billy Moyle, 24, was driving behind a Mack concrete truck on US Highway 75 near Nebraska City on Halloween 2012. The truck moved into the left turn lane and then turned right across his path, running his pickup off the road. He suffered a broken vertebra and a partially severed spinal cord.

After trial: The jury returned $19,607,486 on January 29, 2014. Defense counsel said they were considering an appeal, and no appellate decision has been reported. See more

Truck Strikes Backhoe on Nebraska Bridge, Jury Awards $11.46 Million After Leg Amputation

On May 5, 2020, Michael L. McCartney was driving a John Deere backhoe across the Indian Creek bridge on U.S. Highway 136 west of Red Cloud, Nebraska, where a construction closure had narrowed the road to one lane and removed a guardrail. A tractor-trailer driven by Lenard D. Zurcher, hauling corn for Scott Kort Trucking, ran into the back of the backhoe, carrying both vehicles into the bridge's concrete barriers and overturning them. McCartney's right leg was amputated below the knee and part of his left foot was also removed. A Webster County jury awarded McCartney $8,464,000 and awarded his wife, Sharon G. McCartney, $3,000,000 for loss of consortium after 49 years of marriage, a combined verdict of $11,464,000. The trial court denied the defendants' motion for a new trial, and the verdict against Zurcher and Scott Kort Trucking was not part of the appeal that followed.

After trial: The defendants' motion for a new trial was denied on April 29, 2024, and the $11,464,000 verdict stands. The only appeal was the McCartneys' own, concerning other defendants, so the verdict was not before the appellate court. See more

Jury Awards Lincoln Railcar Repairer $9.3 Million After BNSF Crane Accident Left Him With Spine Injuries

Curt Thege, a BNSF carman at the Havelock Car Shop in Lincoln, was thrown from a scissor lift in June 2019 when an overhead crane hoist moved higher than the operator intended. BNSF admitted it breached its duty of care under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, leaving the jury to decide damages. After a five-day trial the jury returned $9,333,016, and on December 15, 2022 the court entered a $9,295,988.96 judgment after subtracting benefits payments the plaintiff conceded.

After trial: The court cut the judgment only by $37,027.04 in Railroad Retirement Board and sickness benefits that the plaintiff conceded, and refused to remit the jury's valuation. BNSF did not appeal, and a satisfaction of judgment was filed in January 2023.

Lincoln Jury Awards BNSF Carman $3.48 Million After Havelock Yard Crush Injury and Leg Amputation

Jimmy Rohr Jr., a BNSF carman, was injured in February 2014 at the Havelock Yard in Lincoln when a railcar wheel rolled over his left foot, leading to 13 surgeries and a below-knee amputation. After a trial in January 2019, a Lancaster County jury valued his damages at $7,112,071 under the Federal Employers' Liability Act and assigned him 51 percent of the fault. After that reduction he was left with about $3,485,000, or 49 percent of the verdict.

After trial: The jury's $7,112,071 verdict was reduced by the plaintiff's 51 percent share of fault under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, leaving $3,484,914.79. No appeal was reported. See more

$26.1 Million Verdict for Brain-Damaged Baby

At about eleven months old, a child suffered brain trauma in an accidental fall at day care, was taken to a hospital in Omaha and discharged without adequate management of her seizures. The seizures continued and caused permanent brain damage. The jury awarded $26.1 million. The statutory cap reduced it to $2.25 million.

After trial: On appeal. The jury returned $26,100,000 on November 29, 2021, and the district court reduced the award to a single Nebraska statutory cap of $2,250,000. See more

$17 Million Verdict for Baby Not Breathing at Birth

A child was born at Bellevue Medical Center in November 2012 after a long labor and was not breathing at birth. She survived with severe brain damage and by trial could not walk or talk and had limited vision. A federal jury awarded $17 million. The statutory cap reduced it to $1.75 million and the Eighth Circuit affirmed.

After trial: Reduced by statute and affirmed. The jury returned $17,000,000 in August 2015; the district court cut it to the $1,750,000 statutory cap, and the Eighth Circuit affirmed on June 22, 2017 (860 F.3d 1038), upholding the reduction and the refusal to retry. See more

$5.6 Million Verdict for Brain-Injured Newborn

A family alleged that negligent management of prenatal care during a 1993 pregnancy caused their son's brain injury. The jury awarded $5,625,000 against an obstetrician and her practice. The statutory cap reduced it to $1,250,000, and the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed against a five-ground constitutional challenge.

After trial: Reduced by statute and affirmed. The jury returned $5,625,000, judgment was entered at the $1,250,000 statutory limit, and the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed on May 16, 2003 (265 Neb. See more

$34,000 Verdict for Chef With Permanent Back Impairment After Bellevue Cab Crash

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed a $34,000 jury verdict for Terry W. Pitt, an Omaha chef who sustained a 20-to-25-percent permanent impairment to his body as a whole after a Checker Cab struck his vehicle while he was making a left turn near 22nd Street and Chandler Road in Bellevue.

$25,000 Verdict Reinstated for Woman Beaten at Ranch Bowl Dance by Nebraska Supreme Court

The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed a post-verdict judgment for the defense and reinstated a $25,000 jury award for a patron beaten at an after-hours Ranch Bowl dance, holding that a venue with three fights per night cannot call a restroom attack unforeseeable.