People across America get hurt every day by the carelessness and sometimes recklessness of others. These cases often involve criminal behavior. Victims and their families file personal injury lawsuits to try to earn what they’ll need to recover physically, emotionally, and financially. They also want to seek justice.
The biggest personal injury cases seem to get more and more attention each year. That’s often good news for victims in need of real support. It can also be good news for potential future victims who may be protected from the same hazards because of the positive changes that groundbreaking settlements, judgments, or verdicts can bring about.
Some of the Biggest Personal Injury Awards That Made Headlines in 2022
Maison Law of California examined data from VerdictSearch.com to determine the biggest personal injury verdicts of 2022 in the United States. This is a list of just some of the largest settlements and court awards for personal injury victims:
1. $1,724,038,500 Verdict Against Ford Motor Company and Pep Boys in Gwinnett County State Court GA –
This lawsuit involved a married couple killed on a Sumter County, Georgia highway in 2014. The couple’s Ford truck had a tire blowout that sent the pickup rolling over. Lawyers for the relatives of the victims argued that Ford truck roofs are not made sturdy enough to protect occupants in rollovers. The jury enforced a 1.7 million dollar verdict with punitive damages. It’s the largest verdict in state history. Pep Boys was found liable for 30% of the damages for tire installation liability. Three-quarters of the punitive damages in the case went to Georgia due to state laws regarding product liability cases.
2. 1,150,000,000 Verdict Against Charter Communications LLC in Dallas County Court TX –
In 2019, a Charter Communications technician went to an 83-year-old woman’s home to repair a fax machine. He later returned to the house in a company van. The woman caught him trying to steal credit cards and the technician murdered her. The plaintiff’s side argued that Charter Communications was guilty of gross negligence regarding its employee including negligent retention, negligent hiring, and negligent supervision. Lawyers showed a proper background check would’ve uncovered that the employee had been fired by previous employers for misconduct and forgery. The jury in this case originally awarded over 7 billion dollars in compensation and punitive damages. A judge later reduced the award.
3. $1,008,014,000 Verdict Against Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Middlesex County Superior Court Massachusetts –
The family of the woman who died of lung cancer sued the tobacco companies and the stores that sold cigarettes for damages. The woman started smoking when she was 15 years old. She died in 2017 when she was 60 years old. Lawyers argued that tobacco companies could be held responsible under product liability laws. Attorneys also said that the cigarette companies had developed safer cigarettes with less nicotine but didn’t market them. The grocery stores that sold the cigarettes were cleared from the case. The jury assessed one billion dollars in punitive damages and over eight million in compensatory damages.
4. $464,577,265 Verdict Against Southern California Edison (SCE) in Los Angeles Superior Court CA –
A jury decided SCE, an electrical supply company in Southern California, must pay two employees, Alfredo Martinez and Justin Page, $464 million in damages. The award was granted for alleged racial and sexual harassment in the workplace. The plaintiffs also brought claims of whistleblower retaliation. Punitive damages made up the biggest part of the payout.
5. $363,000,000 Verdict Against Sterigenics U.S., LLC, Sotera Health, Griffith Foods International, Inc., in Cook County Circuit Court IL
In 2007, plaintiff Susan Kamuda, in her mid-50s, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Kamuda, now 70, claimed that her cancer was due to years of exposure to ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen that was emitted by a Sterigenics plant based near her home in Willowdale, IL. The sterilization company was shuttered in 2019 after the EPA found that residents nearby had an increased chance of developing cancer. In January of 2023, Sterigenic also settled over 800 ethylene oxide injury cases by agreeing to pay victims $408 million without admitting liability.
6. $230,331,844 Verdict Against The United States of America in U.S. District Court San Antonio TX
On November. 5, 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, TX with a rifle. He opened fire and injured 22 people and killed 26 victims. Kelley served in the Airforce before being discharged for bad conduct in 2014. He had previously been found guilty of assaulting his wife and his stepson. Lawyers for the victims and the families of victims argued that had the Air Force reported this conviction to the FBI, Kelley would not have been able to purchase the rifle he used in the mass shooting.
7. $212,000,000 Verdict Against Travis Reinking and Jeffrey Reinking in Davidson County Circuit Court, TN –
On April 22, 2018, Travis Reinking fatally shot four people in a Waffle House Restaurant in a Nashville, TN neighborhood. A jury awarded $212 million to Shaundelle Brooks, mother of Akilah DaSilva, one of the victims killed. Brooks included Travis Reinking’s father Jeffery in the lawsuit. The jury issued $106 million in compensatory damages and $106 million in punitive damages.
8. $206,000,000 Verdict Against Brenda Lazaro in Dallas County Court TXOn Feb. 2, 2014, Jonathan Crews, 27, suffered a fatal gunshot in his apartment that he shared with his girlfriend, Brenda Lazaro Kelley, in Coppell TX. Investigators were not able to determine if Crews shot himself or if he was shot. The family of Jonathan Crews filed a civil lawsuit against Kelley, alleging that she shot Crews. She was never charged in the case, but a jury concluded that she most likely killed her boyfriend and awarded the family over $200 million in damages. 9. $200,000,000 Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, Inc., in Clark County District Court NV –William George Eskew, 65, died from complications related to Stage IV metastatic lung cancer in Las Vegas in 2017. Beforehand, Eskew had been to a cancer center in Houston, TX where doctors recommended proton beam therapy, a type of radiation therapy. Sierra Health would not cover the cost of the treatment. The family of Eskew showed that Eskew’s death was due to the denial of that care. Eskew’s wife and two sons were awarded $160 million as compensatory damages. Another $160 million in punitive damages were assessed against Sierra Health. |
10. $177,000,000 Verdict Against Hyatt Regency in St. Louis County Circuit Court MO –A female guest staying at a Hyatt Regency in St. Louis was groped in her bed while staying at the hotel in 2016. The perpetrator was a hotel security guard that gained access to the room with a security card. The victim sued the Hyatt Hotels Corporation for negligent hiring, negligent training, and negligent supervision. The plaintiff revealed to the jury that the security guard had a criminal record when he was hired. She asked for compensation for mental distress and PTSD. |
