Rodriguez & Associates secured an $11 million verdict for a family in a wrongful death case.
On December 1, 2022, a Kern County jury ruled in favor of three young children who lost their father in a tragic incident on his job site, awarding them a total of $11 million in damages in the wrongful death case.
Daniel Rodriguez and his experienced team of trial lawyers at Rodriguez & Associates represented the family, in hopes of helping the children receive justice for losing their father, who was a pillar in their lives.
Andrew Bough, 29, was an experienced truck driver for Cal Lowbed. The general contractor for the project was Orange County based J-Squared General Contractors, Inc. J-Squared General Contractors was hired to move metal material in the form of large Z purlins from Lake Isabella to Bishop, California, on April 15, 2020. The heavy metal beams, which are used to construct the roof and wall joists of a building structure, were to be loaded by forklift into trucks for transportation to the building site. The defendant, Doug Murphy, was operating a forklift loading the beams into truck beds when Bough was knocked from his truck and crushed by a 1,500-pound bundle of steel. Bough was taken to a nearby hospital where he passed away 94 agonizing minutes later.
The basis of the wrongful death claim brought by Mr. Rodriguez and his team of trial attorneys including senior partners Joel Andreesen and Chantal Trujillo, and attorney Danay Gonzalez, was directed at J-Squared’s lack of proper training of their employee, forklift operator, Doug Murphy, which led to Murphy’s improper use of the forklift and unsafe loading of the truck while Bough was still on the trailer bed. Attorneys argued that it was due to the actions of Murphy that Bough was killed and had Murphy been properly trained and had action steps taken to remove him from the forklift when it was clear he was operating it unsafely, this disaster would have been avoided.
Through the thorough investigation conducted by the firm, it was found that shortly before this fatal incident occurred, Murphy had punctured the tire of another truck with the forklift, yet he was allowed to continue working.
In addition to the jury verdict of $11 million, Rodriguez & Associates was also able to secure a significant amount in prejudgment interest and costs of litigation for the family. As a result, the total amount of the award will be approximately $12.6 million.
Rodriguez & Associates has decades of experience representing victims of serious personal injury and wrongful death claims resulting from the negligence and careless actions of individuals, large companies, and organizations who disregard basic safety precautions.
Contact our Bakersfield personal injury law office today to learn how our team can help you seek justice.