Toledo Jury Awards Damages in Fatal Tractor-Trailer Collision

A 31-year-old man died in a highway collision in Toledo, OH, when his vehicle struck an overturned tractor-trailer in the middle of the night. His parents subsequently filed a lawsuit against the truck driver and owner, alleging loss of consortium due to their son's death.

The defendants conceded that the plaintiff mother sustained a loss but disputed the financial amount of damages. They denied that the plaintiff father sustained a loss, contending the nature of his relationship with his son, whose parents had divorced when the son was two, did not warrant damages. The father testified their relationship had "peaks and valleys" and was in a "valley" at the time of his son's death, which he argued precluded any opportunity for reconciliation.

Following a one-and-a-half-day trial, the jury deliberated for three hours before returning a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs.