Honda logo/Credit: Philip Lange/Shutterstock.com

A jury in Dallas district court has returned a $37.6 million verdict in a lawsuit filed by a woman who was paralyzed after a crash in a Honda Odyssey minivan.

The verdict came Wednesday, ending a nine-day trial before Judge Tonya Parker. The jury deliberated seven hours over claims of a defect in the third-row middle seat belt.

The jury apportioned 63 percent of the fault to Honda, for a total of $23.7 million. The jury apportioned 32 percent of the fault to the driver, who was not a party to the case, and 5 percent to the plaintiff, 27-year-old Sarah Milburn.

The winning lawyers said the jury finding that Honda is 63 percent responsible puts the company on line for the whole verdict under the comparative apportionment statute of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code 33.013, which says: “Each liable defendant, in addition to his liability, is jointly and severally liable for the damages recoverable by the claimant if the percentage of responsibility attributed to the defendant is greater than 50 percent.”

A spokesman for American Honda Motor Co. said Friday the company is “disappointed with the verdict” and “intends to vigorously appeal.”

Honda was represented by Yesenia Cardenas-Colenso of Bowman & Brooke. She passed along a request for comment to the corporate office.

“The design of the seat belt system for the middle passenger in the third-row seat in the 2011 Odyssey complies with all applicable federal safety standards and is similar in design to virtually all comparable minivans of this vintage,” Honda's spokesman said. “If it had been worn properly in this crash, the plaintiff would have suffered no serious injuries.”

But Milburn's lawyers alleged at trial that the belt was too difficult to wear properly.

The Milburn legal team included Charla Aldous and Brent Walker of Aldous\Walker along with Jim Mitchell of the PayneMitchell Law Group in Dallas.

Milburn's lawyers said the belt is a two-part system requiring passengers to grasp a detachable shoulder strap from the van's ceiling, anchor it to the seat and then pull the belt across and buckle it.

Charla Aldous of the Aldous\Walker firm in Dallas. Photo: Mark Graham

The lawyers said their expert showed the jury independent testing proving that fewer than 10 percent of people unfamiliar with the belt were able to use it properly. Milburn would not have been familiar with it because she was riding in an Uber car. Uber was originally one of the defendants but was dropped. The lawyers would only say the issue was resolved with regard to Uber.

Uber did not have an immediate response to a request for comment.

“What the jury understood is that it's not enough to just equip a car with seat belts. The carmaker also has to make sure people can and will use them safely,” Aldous said in the news release. “Sarah put the seat belt on the same way 50 out of 53 people in our studies did, and wearing it that way was actually more dangerous than having no seat belt at all.”

The complaint said Milburn was 23 at the time of the wreck on Nov. 15, 2015. She was home in Dallas on a break from college at Oklahoma State University, where she was a senior. She had gone out with friends in Uptown Dallas.

“As the night came to a close, Sarah and her friends decided to responsibly not drive their cars, but to get a car service to transport them,” the complaint said. One of her friends used his cellphone to order an Uber pickup.

The complaint said the Uber driver picked up six people in an uninsured van owned by someone else, started speeding and ran a red light. The Honda Odyssey was hit broadside by a pickup truck. The pickup driver was not charged with any wrongdoing. The van rolled over onto its side and top. Milburn suffered a broken neck and was left a quadriplegic, according to her lawyers. They said she has “very limited use” of her arms and hands. She lives with her parents, John and Carolyn Milburn, who provide round-the-clock care and who filed the lawsuit along with her.

The case is Milburn v. American Honda Motor, DC-16-16470, in the 116th Civil District Court in Dallas County.