A woman rear-ended by a tractor-trailer was awarded more than $2.1 million by a federal jury in Chattanooga following a two-day liability trial.

Plaintiffs lawyer Alan Hamilton said there was no debate that the truck rear-ended the plaintiffs' Honda Civic on Interstate 24 as it merges into Interstate 75 near Chattanooga. The only issue was whose fault it was.  

"Interestingly, there's dash-camera video that was the key piece of evidence for both sides," said Hamilton. "Each side just saw it fundamentally different."  

Hamilton said the defense's top offer to settle pretrial was $150,000, while his side offered to dismiss the suit for $450,000.

"They never would budge," said Hamilton, who tried the case with Shiver Hamilton associate Maggy Randels. 

Tennessee does not have fee-shifting statute for rejected settlement offers that are surpassed at trial, so there will be no attempt to recover attorney fees, Hamilton said.

The defendant trucking company, YRC Freight, is represented by Byron Lindberg and Russell Newman of Hall Booth Smith's Nashville office; they did not respond to requests for comment. 

According to Hamilton and case pleadings, Stephenson—a nurse who lives in the North Georgia town of Ringgold—was driving with her husband in July 2016 when the accident happened. 

As the entrance lane narrowed to one lane from I-24 to I-75, Stephenson found herself with a tractor-trailer to her right and another behind her, Hamilton said. 

"The truck next to her started to drop back, and she hit the brakes to let him get ahead," Hamilton said. "The one behind her rear-ends her. The defense said she stopped for no good reason." 

The trucker was cited for following too closely, but the charges were dismissed when the officer didn't show up to testify in court, he said. 

Stephenson, now 48, "was not treated at the scene; she said she was OK and went home," Hamilton said. "She went to a chiropractor a couple of days later with neck and back pain. We focused on the neck, because she had a history of back problems."

She ended up requiring cervical disc fusion surgery and accrued about $130,000 in medical bills, he said. 

"She had a really good recovery," he said. "She had not been back to the doctor since she was released post-op in 2016." 

She was out of work for about eight weeks, Hamilton said, but there was no claim for lost wages. 

Stephenson's husband was also injured in the wreck, but he settled his claims presuit.

Stephenson originally sued YCR's parent, YCR Inc. and the driver in Fulton County State Court, but the company had the case removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. 

A mediation failed to resolve the case, and it went to trial before Judge Travis McDonough on Aug. 19.

The driver had been dismissed voluntarily pretrial, and Hamilton said the main issue for the jury was whether Stephenson caused or contributed to the wreck. 

There was no expert testimony, he said. YCR's corporate representative, a fleet manager, testified about the mandatory distances trucks are supposed to keep between vehicles. 

"They have to maintain a certain distance, and they admitted he was too close," Hamilton said. "It was really a matter of perspective: It was undeniable that he was too close, but they said if she hadn't slammed on the brakes there would have been no wreck."

"They also challenged the medical causation," he said. "She had a real clean medical history, but almost two years to the day prior to the wreck she had had a chiropractic visit complaining of neck and arm pain."

In closing, Hamilton said he suggested that $2 million would be appropriate damages, while the defense said blame should be apportioned at least 50-50 between the parties.  

On Aug. 23, he said the jury took about 3½ hours to award Stephenson $1 million for permanent injury, $500,000 for pain and suffering, $500,000 for loss of enjoyment of life and $138,000 in medical expenses, for a total of $2,138,000.

"We asked for $2 million, so they actually gave us a little extra," he said. 

Hamilton said court rules prohibited him from speaking to the jurors afterward.