Thomas J. Henry Secures $11 Million Verdict for Texas Man Injured in Trucking Accident

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Journal of Transportation -- Thomas J. Henry, a personal injury law firm, obtained an $11.27 million verdict in South Texas on behalf of their client Alex Puga, who was injured in a 2015 trucking accident. Puga suffered a burnt left hand, a broken thigh bone, broken right ankle, and broken hip. A portion of the verdict, totaling $3.6 million, was awarded to Puga's wife for loss of consortium. She was not involved in the accident.

Facts of the Texas Trucking Accident Case

The accident occurred in 2015 when Thomas J. Henry's client, Alex Puga, was traveling southbound on Highway 77 in Refugio County, driving home after work to have dinner with his wife, Norma Puga. A tractor owned by About Tyme Transport, Inc., hauling a trailer owned by Xtra Lease, LLC, and leased to RCX Solutions, Inc., was heading northbound on Highway 77 when the operator, who was on his cell phone in the rain, hydroplaned across the median and entered southbound traffic. Puga was violently struck head-on by the tractor-trailer, causing him extensive physical and mental injuries.

Details of the Personal Injury Lawsuit

Thomas J. Henry's firm filed suit against the 18-wheeler operator's employer, RCX Solutions, Inc., for negligence, negligence per se, and gross negligence. Richard Hunnicutt, of Thomas J. Henry, tried the case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, Corpus Christi, under the Statutory Employer Doctrine.

RCX Solutions, Inc., claimed they were only the broker and were not responsible for the actions of the tractor-trailer operator. A fact question was submitted to the jury in federal court, asking the jury to determine if there was an arrangement between the tractor-trailer operator and RCX Solutions, Inc., to use his equipment. The jury found that there was indeed an arrangement. The Plaintiff's attorney proved that RCX Solutions, Inc. did not have a Department of Transportation Broker's license and therefore could not legally broker the load. Siding with the plaintiff, the jury found that the 18-wheeler operator was negligent and that RCX Solutions, Inc., used a motor vehicle it did not own to transport property under an arrangement with the operator.

The jury awarded Alex Puga $7,586,590 for past and future medical care expenses, earning capacity, physical pain and mental anguish, physical impairment, and physical disfigurement. The jury awarded Norma Puga $3,689,076 for past and future loss of household services and loss of consortium. The total of the jury award was $11,275,666.

"The jury didn't like this company trying to pass the buck. They saw through the company's claims that they were a broker and not responsible for this driver. They saw that they were actually the Carrier and the Employer for this load and held them responsible," Hunnicutt stated.

"Our firm has a long history of holding trucking companies responsible for serious injuries and deaths. The law is designed to safeguard all of us on the roadways and highways in the US. My firm has been dedicated to upholding these values, for our clients, in courts around the country," firm founder Thomas J. Henry added.

Keywords for this news article include: Trucking, Legal Issues, Transportation, Thomas J. Henry.

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