Case Result

$5M

Personal Injury / Vehicular Accident

2007

St. Joseph, MO

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Case Details

Brian Gatson v. Dohrn Transfer Company, et al., Case No. 07DK-CV00046. The Montee Law Firm obtained a $5,050,000.00 settlement for a man injured in a motor vehicle accident in DeKalb County, Missouri. Brian Gatson, a 35-year-old construction worker and father, was driving a 1989 International dump truck westbound on U.S. Highway 36 in DeKalb County at 7:00 a.m. on January 3, 2007 when he struck a trailer. Just minutes before the collision, the driver of the tractor-trailer, belonging to Dohrn Transfer Company, drifted off the right shoulder, over-corrected, jackknifed his tractor, and detached the trailer in the roadway. The tractor proceeded into the median between the eastbound and westbound lanes and the trailer sat on its side across the roadway without lights. The first westbound motorist evaded the abandoned trailer, striking only minor debris without serious consequence. Mr. Gatson’s dump truck, however, hit into the trailer. Mr. Gatson’s dump truck then traveled off the left side of the roadway and struck and embankment, spun 180 degrees, struck the embankment again, then spun 90 degrees. Mr. Gatson was ejected through the windshield. Mr. Gatson suffered life-threatening injuries, including crush injury, fractured left acetabulum, fractured left ischium, scapular fracture, rib fractures, thoracic spine fractures, mid-lumbar vertebrae fractures, pelvic and SI joint fractures, and liver trauma. Mr. Gatson was continuously hospitalized for ten months after his accident, undergoing more than twenty surgeries and procedures. Mr. Gatson’s recovery was delayed by numerous complications resulting from his injuries.