FedEx Freight, the FedEx parent corporation’s LTL branch, was awarded $30 million in a Texas court for a fatal head-on collision in 2018.
On Friday, the award was given out by a jury in Harris County.
David Forehand, the driver of a FedEx Freight truck, was found to be 49 percent at fault for the crash that killed Joseph Cargal, who was working for XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO) at the time. FedEx (NYSE: FDX) was found 51 percent guilty by the jury for failing to train and supervise Forehand properly.
Devin McNulty, a partner at Chandler McNulty, representing family members who sued FedEx, said he did not feel the award was a nuclear verdict, defined as a jury award of more than $10 million. In an email to FreightWaves, McNulty responded, “I don’t know what a nuclear verdict is.” “It’s possible it’ll be in the nine digits and higher.”
McNulty said Cargal’s widow had reached separate agreements with XPO and its insurance carriers. His sons, Jack and Andrew Cargal, are the plaintiffs in this case.
According to the original complaint filed in the case, the FedEx Freight truck piloted by Forehand was heading south on US Highway 59 in the small east Texas town of Tenaha. Cargal was on his way north.
“Defendant… was going at an excessive speed and failed to maintain its lane in the dark of night, on wet roads, in the pouring rain, and while carrying a combined gross vehicle weight rate above 135,000 pounds,” the lawsuit read. In the rain, the crash happened at around 1:30 a.m. At that point, the highway is a four-lane road with no median or barrier.
“Without warning and while failing to drive as a reasonably prudent business driver under the same or similar circumstances,” the lawsuit stated, “Forehand drove into the oncoming northbound lanes of traffic and struck Cargal head-on.” Cargal was certified deceased at the scene after suffering severe burns. He also suffered head and torso blunt force damage.
Despite an earlier settlement with Cargal’s widow, McNulty stated that the new case “only proceeded to verdict because FedEx Freight misjudged the risk.”
In his email, McNulty stated, “The proof was there all along.” “Most of our large trucking cases settle before a jury sees the evidence.”
After a nine-day trial, the jury reached a unanimous decision. FedEx’s counsel declined to comment.
The FedEx Freight vehicle, according to McNulty, has outward-facing cameras. “From the time and distance traveled shown,” he added, a state policeman and a collision reconstructionist “were able to compute [Forehand’s] speed quickly.”
