Beasley Allen lawyers secured a $2.83 million verdict against Charter Communications today on behalf of Brandon Jackson after a Gwinnett County, Georgia, jury found that Charter failed to implement company policies regarding employee training and vehicle maintenance. The failure led to an avoidable crash that left Jackson severely injured and unable to return to his job as a truck driver. Jackson was represented by Beasley Allen lawyers Chris Glover, managing attorney for the firm’s Atlanta office, Rob Register and Dan Philyaw.
“This case represents a complete failure of a company’s safety policies,” Glover said. “Charter paid lip service to safety but didn’t actually apply those policies or pass along crucial information to its employees. This verdict sends the message that companies must act responsibly to ensure the safety of their employees as well as to ensure the public is safe on the roadways they share.”
In June 2015, Jackson was living his dream of driving a tractor-trailer. As he was rounding a curve on I-75 in Dalton, Georgia, Jackson unexpectedly encountered a ladder in the roadway. He ran over the ladder, which caused him to immediately lose control of his vehicle and crash. The impact rolled Jackson’s truck and he broke his hip in the accident, forcing him to endure several surgical procedures. For approximately a year after the crash, Jackson could not walk and in addition to facing a lifetime of pain, he will never be able to return to his job as a truck driver.
The ladder had fallen off a Charter Communications van and an investigation by Beasley Allen lawyers revealed that, despite its own published safety policies, Charter failed to properly train its driver in how to secure the ladder to the truck. The Charter employee testified he had received no training at all after driving the company van for a year. The van he drove had not been inspected for the last four months for problems with the ladder rack, despite required monthly checks. The ladder rack was in such disrepair it was incapable of holding the ladder safely.
The case was filed in the State Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia, case number 17C-3714-4.
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