$604 Million Verdict Won in Fatal Truck Accident

In a landmark victory, Arnold & Itkin Attorney Roland Christensen and his trial team won a $604,025,000 verdict against freight broker C.H. Robinson, motor carrier Lupus Superior, and its driver for a 2021 truck accident that killed 3 people and seriously injured 2 others. The verdict, handed down by a jury in Dallas County Court at Law No. 4, is one of the largest truck accident verdicts in Texas history. The jury heard the truth: this tragedy never should have happened, and C.H. Robinson had every warning it needed to stop it.

A Preventable Tragedy on I-20

On March 25, 2021, traffic on Interstate 20 in Warren County, Mississippi came to a standstill. An 18-wheeler operated by a Lupus Superior driver slammed into the stopped vehicles, setting off a fiery six-vehicle pileup. Jennifer Lipe, Benjamin Brewer, and Rhoderick Coleman burned to death in their vehicles. They left behind spouses, adult children, and minor children. Rodney Hawkins and Gabrielle Broussard survived the crash but suffered serious injuries.

The Warning Signs C.H. Robinson Ignored

The jury heard that this 18-wheeler crash was the result of decisions made long before that night. For more than a year before the collision, Lupus Superior carried FMCSA safety alerts for unsafe driving and hours-of-service violations. Those scores are predictive of a substantially increased crash risk. Instead of using them to vet the carrier, C.H. Robinson chose to ignore them and brokered the load to Lupus Superior anyway.

On the day of the crash, the driver falsified his logs, drove off course in the middle of the night, and violated hours-of-service rules. That was the exact conduct behind the safety alerts Lupus Superior had carried for over a year. Just hours before the collision, the driver told both C.H. Robinson and Lupus Superior directly that he was too sick to keep driving. C.H. Robinson failed to reschedule the delivery. The driver kept driving to make it, then crashed into stopped traffic.

“C.H. Robinson refused to accept any responsibility for hiring a motor carrier with a long history of safety alerts, alerts that turned into reality when three people burned to death and others were injured,” said Roland Christensen.

The Jury's Verdict

The jury found the driver, Lupus Superior, and C.H. Robinson all negligent.

It apportioned 45% of the responsibility to driver Gorgonio Gonzalez, 32% to Lupus Superior, and 23% to C.H. Robinson. The jury also found that Gonzalez was acting as a borrowed employee of C.H. Robinson and that C.H. Robinson was vicariously liable for the driver even as an independent contractor.

That made C.H. Robinson responsible for 68% of the $604 million verdict.

“We are very grateful to the jury for deliberating long and hard and holding C.H. Robinson accountable for its negligent hiring practices. We hope this case will help the industry as a whole hire safer and protect motorists across the country,” Christensen said.

A Landmark for Broker Accountability

The verdict comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, a case that also involved C.H. Robinson. The Court held that federal law does not shield freight brokers from claims that they negligently hired dangerous motor carriers.

The message to the brokering industry is clear: vetting the carriers you put on the road is not optional.

“No amount of money will replace the parents and spouses who burned to death in this horrible crash. But this verdict is a message to C.H. Robinson and the brokering industry that their dangerous practices are not acceptable,” Christensen said.

The Trial Team Behind the Verdict

The families were represented by Arnold & Itkin's Roland Christensen, who served as lead trial counsel, along with Caj Boatright, Alec Paradowski, and Jonathan Mack. Our Dallas truck accident attorneys fought for years to bring the truth about this crash into the light, and the jury's verdict gives these families the accountability they deserved.