Mark Tinsley
An Orangeburg County jury has awarded a total of $35 million to a father and son who were seriously injured when the vehicle they were riding in was hit from behind by a tractor-trailer truck.
Brandon Glover, the son, was awarded $21 million, and his father, Willie Glover, was awarded $14 million. The award to Brandon includes $17 million in punitive damages: $16 million from the company that owned the truck that hit him and its employee who was driving it, and $1 million from his father, who was driving the Glovers’ vehicle at the time of the crash.
Mark Tinsley of Gooding & Gooding in Allendale, who represented Brandon Glover, said that while Willie Glover was found to be 10 percent negligent in the crash, the elder Glover filed a cross-claim against the trucking company, JHOC Inc., and driver, David Hill. The jury awarded him $14 million, including $4 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The actual damages will be reduced by 10 percent, Tinsley said, and used to pay the 10 percent of the actual damages that Willie owes Brandon.
The crash happened in August 2015 when the Glovers were driving westbound on I-25 near Orangeburg and a vehicle in front of them pulled over on the interstate highway, but didn’t quite make it off of the roadway. Willie stopped suddenly to avoid hitting the vehicle, at which point Hill’s truck rear-ended his. The Glovers’ vehicle then hit a tree.
Brandon suffered injuries to his right shoulder and lower back, including a microfracture in his vertebrae, which required the surgical removal of a disc and fusion of his vertebrae. He also suffered great physical pain, lost the ability to work, and was forced to pay for his own medical bills, Tinsley said.
Willie also suffered injuries to his property and to his neck and back—including cervical fusion, causing pain and requiring him to be hospitalized, he alleged in the cross-claim. In addition to medical bills, he also suffered lost wages as a result of the crash, which he said was caused by Hill’s negligence.
Tinsley said his side was able to prove Hill’s negligence in several ways–he said that a failure to drug test Hill after the accident suggested that he may have been using narcotic pain medication at the time of the crash, and the 18-wheeler’s black box showed that he had been driving for a longer period of time than he was legally allowed to without taking a break prior to the crash. He was also following too closely and driving too fast for the road conditions, Tinsley said.
“The jury believed he had failed a drug test, he was on drugs at the time of the crash, he conceded he was over his hours of service,” Tinsley said. “We were able to establish he was following too close and driving too fast.”
The jury deemed David Hill and JHOC Inc. to be 90 percent responsible for the crash in its April 26 verdict. The driver of the vehicle that had pulled to the side, who was also originally named as a defendant, was dismissed by Orangeburg County Circuit Judge Edgar Dickson after the driver established that he was not the cause of the wreck.
David and Virginia Williams of Williams & Williams in Orangeburg represented Willie Glover. David Williams said his client suffered $120,000 in past medical bills, $60,000 in lost income and that his future medical bills were estimated to cost between $120,000 and $240,000.
Robert Shannon Jr. of Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell in Greenville represented JHOC Inc. and David Hill. He disputed several of the plaintiff’s claims.
“Mr. Hill was not cited for the accident, therefore, a drug test was not required,” he said. “The officer who investigated the crash did not find he was driving too fast for conditions.”
Furthermore, Shannon said, Willie Glover admitted to traveling 50-60 mph at the time of the crash. The tree that Willie Glover hit was only 30 feet away, he said.
“Hitting the tree was the cause of the injuries, and he would have hit the tree even if Mr. Hill had not struck him,” Shannon said.
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VERDICT REPORT — AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT
Amount: $21 million (Brandon Glover), $14 million (Willie Glover)
Injuries alleged: Bone bruise, microfracture in L5 vertebrae causing vertebrae to slip and annular tear, required removal of the disc and fusion of the L5-S1 vertebrae (Brandon), lower back injuries, damage to property, lost wages (Willie)
Case name: Brandon Glover v. David Hill, JHOC Inc. & Willie Glover
Court: Orangeburg County Circuit Court
Case No.: 2016-CP-38-01152
Judge: Edgar Dickson
Date of verdict: April 26, 2019
Special damages: $16 million in punitive damages from JHOC inc. and its employee David Hill and $1 million from Willie Glover (Brandon) $10 million in punitive damages from JHOC and David Hill (Willie)
Most helpful experts: David Dorrity (trucking expert)
Attorneys for plaintiff: Mark Tinsley and H. Woodrow Gooding of Gooding & Gooding in Allendale
Attorneys for defendant: Robert Shannon Jr. of Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell in Greenville for JHOC Inc. and David Hill; and Virginia Williams and David Williams of Williams & Williams Attorneys at Law in Orangeburg for Willie Glover