Top Individual West Virginia Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

They Were Running the First Batches of a New Drying Process. The Dryer Exploded With the Force of Two Tons of TNT and Killed Him.

John Mark Gillenwater, 42, was working the first runs of a new process to dry a chlorinated bleach compound at the Optima Belle plant in the Kanawha Valley. The dryer exploded with a force experts likened to two tons of TNT. A jury found the process should never have been run as designed and awarded his widow $15 million.

After trial: The jury returned $15,000,000 on May 2, 2024, split $10,000,000 wrongful death and $5,000,000 for conscious pain and suffering, with fault apportioned 70 percent to Clearon and 30 percent to Optima Belle. Two qualifications. No appellate reversal or reduction has been found, but that rests on the absence of a reported appeal rather than on an affirmance: the WV Intermediate Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Appeals dockets and news through 2026 were searched and nothing surfaced, and an appeal by two corporate defendants would not be surprising. Second, under W. Va. Code 55-7-24 judgment was almost certainly entered severally, roughly $10.5 million against Clearon and $4.5 million against Optima, so the per-defendant amounts should not be described as joint; both are solvent corporate defendants, so unlike some West Virginia apportionment cases the total recovery is unaffected. Not a medical professional liability case, so W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 does not apply.

$10.8 Million Verdict for Child With Cerebral Palsy After Oxygen Deprivation at Birth

A federal jury in West Virginia awarded $10.8 million to a child and her parents after finding that hospital staff failed to prevent oxygen deprivation during delivery, causing permanent cerebral palsy.

A Hydrogen Explosion at an AEP Plant in 2005 Produced Safety Recommendations Nobody Acted On. In 2007 Another One Killed a Tanker Driver, and the Jury Added $5 Million in Punitive Damages.

Lewis Timmons, 61, was transferring hydrogen from his tanker into the storage system at the Muskingum River power plant when the storage area exploded and killed him. The enclosure had a defective roof and undersized copper relief stacks that could not vent a release, and an earlier hydrogen explosion at an AEP facility had already produced safety recommendations the company never acted on.

After trial: The weakest post-trial check in our West Virginia set, and worth saying so plainly. The jury returned the verdict on August 29, 2011 and judgment was entered on it along with attorney fees. No appellate decision, remittitur or post-trial reduction order could be located after searching the WV Supreme Court of Appeals decisions for 2011 through 2013 and contemporaneous news. That is absence of evidence rather than an affirmance, so treat the figure as entered rather than as tested on appeal. Not a medical professional liability case, so W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 does not apply, and the punitive award rests on the jury's express finding of conscious disregard for Timmons's safety.

The Forklift Reversed Without Warning and Dragged the Pipe Back Onto His Foot. He Lost the Leg, and the Fourth Circuit Affirmed $5.4 Million.

Richard Edwards Jr. was loading lengths of metal pipe onto his truck when the forklift operator reversed without warning, dragging the pipe off the bed and onto his foot. His right leg was amputated below the knee. The jury held both trucking companies liable, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed every dollar.

After trial: Final and affirmed in full. The jury returned $5,415,811 on August 14, 2018. Cardinal Transport appealed, arguing that the federal motor-carrier regulations displaced West Virginia's common-law employment analysis; the Fourth Circuit rejected that and affirmed on June 26, 2020 (No. 19-1034). Nothing was reduced. West Virginia's noneconomic damages cap in W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 reaches only medical professional liability claims and does not apply to an ordinary negligence case like this one.

Wal-Mart Detained a Shoplifter in the Main Traffic Aisle With Customers Still Walking Past. He Broke Away, Ran Into Her Cart, and She Lives With a Permanent Ileostomy.

Johna Ankrom, 52, was shopping with her granddaughter when Wal-Mart employees detained a shoplifter in the vestibule's main traffic aisle. He broke away, collided with her cart and pulled it down on top of her. She suffered traumatic intestinal injuries, went through multiple surgeries, and now lives with a permanent ileostomy.

After trial: Affirmed, and the figure that matters is not the headline. The gross verdict was $16,922,000, and it is described almost everywhere as a $16.9 million verdict against Wal-Mart. It was not. Under W. Va. Code 55-7-24 judgment was entered severally by apportioned fault, so Wal-Mart's judgment is $5,076,600, its 30 percent share, and the remaining 70 percent was apportioned to the shoplifter, who is not a source of recovery. The WV Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed that structure along with the denial of Wal-Mart's post-trial motions on November 18, 2020 (No. 19-0666, 854 S.E.2d 257). On the gross number this remains likely the largest single-plaintiff verdict in Wood County history. Not a medical professional liability case, so W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 does not apply.

The Flatbed Was Hauling 37,000 Pounds Against a 26,000-Pound Limit, Underlit, Crawling Uphill at 21 mph in the Dark. A 14-Year-Old Died Behind It.

A 14-year-old high school freshman was riding home from a soccer match with her father on Interstate 79 when their vehicle struck the rear of a flatbed semi hauling lumber uphill at 21 mph in the dark. The plaintiffs' case was that the truck should never have been on that road: overloaded by more than 11,000 pounds, inadequately lit, and driven by a man not properly licensed for it.

After trial: Settled and court-approved; final. The $4,500,000 is split $3,000,000 from Quality Woods, Inc. and $1,500,000 from Allegheny Wood Products, Inc. West Virginia's noneconomic damages cap in W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 applies only to medical professional liability and had no bearing on a trucking case. One venue detail worth noting: the crash happened on Interstate 79 in Kanawha County, but the suit was filed and settled in the Circuit Court of Putnam County.

First Federal Pelvic Mesh Bellwether: $3.27 Million Verdict for Jo Huskey Against Ethicon

A West Virginia federal jury awarded Jo Huskey $3.27 million after finding Ethicon's TVT-O pelvic mesh sling defective, making it the first federal bellwether verdict in the massive Ethicon MDL.

$3 Million Settlement After Interstate Rear-End Crash Ejects Stranded Driver

A 22-year-old worker creeping along a West Virginia interstate on a flat tire was rear-ended and thrown from his vehicle, and Marks & Harrison resolved the case for $3 million.

Run Over Beside His Stalled Car: A $3 Million Settlement

DeMayo Law attorneys Elizabeth G. Grimes and Michael A. DeMayo won a $3 million settlement for an elderly North Carolina man who was run over by another vehicle while standing beside his disabled car on a West Virginia roadside.

The Resin Supplier's Own Safety Sheet Warned Against Permanently Implanting It in the Human Body. Bard Used It in Pelvic Mesh Anyway, and a Jury Added $1.75 Million in Punitive Damages.

Donna Cisson was implanted with C.R. Bard's Avaulta Plus transvaginal mesh and developed chronic pelvic pain and bleeding requiring surgical revision. The polypropylene resin supplier's own material safety data sheet cautioned against permanent implantation in the human body. The jury returned $2 million including punitive damages, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed.

After trial: Final and affirmed. The verdict of August 15, 2013 was $250,000 compensatory plus $1,750,000 punitive. The Fourth Circuit affirmed on January 14, 2016 (No. 15-1102, 810 F.3d 913), upholding both the admission of the resin supplier's material safety data sheet and the punitive award. One point worth stating plainly: the venue is genuinely West Virginia because the pelvic-mesh MDL was centralized there, but the plaintiff is from Georgia and Georgia substantive law applied, so this is not a West Virginia injury. It is a bellwether verdict for one plaintiff and not a global MDL figure.