Plaintiff Awarded $2.176M in Okla. Workers’ Comp Case

A Mayes County, Okla., District Court jury ordered Transwood Inc., a national trucking company headquartered in Omaha, Neb., to pay its Pryor, Okla. office assistant/part-time driver $2.176 million in a wrongful termination suit that she filed on behalf of her late husband.

According to the law firm of Holden & McKenna, the case revolved around a workers’ compensation claim filed against Transwood by the plaintiff’s husband.

The award represented the largest civil verdict in Mayes County history.

In the trial heard in the court of District Judge James Goodpaster, Paula J. Breedlove said her late husband, Billy Breedlove, was a truck driver working out of Transwood’s Pryor terminal. She is employed at the same facility as office assistant/part-time driver.

In the suit, Mrs. Breedlove said the company fired her husband because he filed workers’ compensation and then allegedly engaged in activities designed to destroy his professional reputation and make it impossible for him to work as a truck driver.

Mrs. Breedlove said her husband was injured on the job in October 1996 and took approximately two weeks off work. In March 1997, he sought additional medical treatment and filed a workers’ compensation claim the following month. He was released by his doctor to return to light duty work on July 1.

The following November, Mrs. Breedlove said her husband consulted with the court-appointed physician, Dr. Randall Hendricks, for an independent medical examination in connection with his workers’ compensation case. Following the examination, Billy Breedlove asked to go back to work and was released to drive, but the doctor imposed lifting restrictions upon him. When Billy Breedlove got to work, he was physically unable to walk up the steps to the office. He notified Dr. Hendricks, and Dr. Hendricks faxed another form to the terminal office indicating that his patient was to remain off work for two weeks pending further testing.

When Terminal Manager Jim Campbell returned from vacation, he saw two conflicting reports and reportedly ordered Breedlove to report to work within 72 hours.

Paula Breedlove maintained that Campbell reportedly ordered Mr. Breedlove back to work and then fired him despite that fact that Campbell knew Mr. Breedlove was in the hospital undergoing a myelogram procedure at the time.

Steven E. Holden, a principal with Holden & McKenna, who represented Breedlove, along with Steve Capron, stated that the actions taken by Transwood reflect a history and policy of terminating employees who seek workers’ compensation.

“This is a position that could not be more legally and morally wrong,” he said. “Clearly it is an attempt on the part of the company to send a message to all of its drivers that if they file a workers’ compensation claim, what happened to Billy Breedlove will happen to them.”

Paula Breedlove contended that the company also attempted to defame her husband. They asserted that after firing Mr. Breedlove, Transwood “sent notices out to all the other trucking companies in this area telling them to personally contact Transwood before hiring him.” According to Holden, the company insinuated that Mr. Breedlove had problems with alcohol.

Mr. Breedlove subsequently died of cancer.

Holden said he expects two appeals to be filed within the next 30 days. “I don’t think there is any doubt that Transwood will appeal the jury’s award. I know we will appeal the judge’s rejection of our request for punitive damages. We will be demanding $50 million in punitive damages at the next trial.”

Topics Workers' Compensation Oklahoma