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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowLafayette-based trailer manufacturing company Wabash National Corp. has been ordered to pay $462 million to the families of two men killed in a 2019 crash involving one of the company’s trailers.
A jury handed down a decision in favor of the victims’ families on Sept. 5 in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis after a two-week trial. The jury awarded $6 million in compensatory damages to the families of each of the men on top of $450 million in punitive damages.
Wabash National is the 20th largest public company in Indiana based on 2023 revenue of $2.5 billion, but its total profits from the last two years ($343.6 million) wouldn’t be enough to pay the amount awarded in the product-liability lawsuit.
Wabash National said its insurance policies should cover the $12 million in compensatory damages, but the punitive damages could materially hurt its financial condition, operations and cash flows.
In May 2019, a Volkswagen driven by Taron Tailor traveling at a high speed during daylight hours collided with the back of a nearly-stopped 2004 trailer manufactured by Wabash. The trailer’s rear-impact guard failed to prevent the car from driving under the trailer, according to court documents.
The crash killed Tailor, 30, and his passenger, Nicholas Perkins, 23.
In filing the lawsuit, the victims’ families claimed Wabash was negligent and manufactured a defective rear-impact guard that failed to prevent the fatalities.
The jury determined the punitive damages based on the amount the plaintiff attorneys told them Wabash saved by not installing safer rear-impact guard in the 30 years prior to the crash.
In a release posted to its website on Friday, Wabash said the crash occurred nearly two decades after the trailer involved was manufactured in compliance with existing regulatory standards.
The company said the jury was prevented from hearing crucial evidence in the case, including that at the time of the crash, the driver’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.
The jury was also not informed that neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.
Plaintiffs argued the men could’ve survived had the vehicle not broken through the guard even though it was traveling about 55 mph when it hit the back of the trailer.
“While this was a tragic accident, we respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict and firmly believe it is not supported by the facts or the law,” said Wabash General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer Kristin Glazner in the release. “No rear impact guard or trailer safety technology has ever existed that would have made a difference here.”
The company said it is evaluating all legal options in response to the verdict.
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