Facts

On Nov. 3, 2012, plaintiff Russell Sheaffer, then 24, was driving his 2004 Toyota Solara south on Interstate 15 when he was rear-ended in a chain reaction collision. Defendant Thomas J. Mose was driving a commercial truck owned by his employer Florida based NuCO2, a soda carbonation company.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff contended Mose drove NuCO2's 35,000-pound Freightliner flatbed tanker truck into a line of stopped vehicles on Interstate 15 while traveling at 63-65 miles per hour. Plaintiff at the time was driving the third of five vehicles in the line of vehicles impacted. Sheaffer's stopped vehicle was struck from behind with enough force to break his seat and propel him into the stopped SUV in front of him.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendant admitted liability, but disputed the extent of plaintiff's injuries. Defendants argued that plaintiff had been able to continue working on his doctorate at Indiana University, and his work as a filmmaker.

Injuries

Plaintiff claimed multiple traumatic injuries including facial fractures along his jaw, an imploded sinus and a minor traumatic brain injury. He underwent two major surgeries and claimed to have been left with a traumatically induced, rapidly progressing, and degenerative joint disease of the temporomandibular joints.

Result

Plaintiff's verdict for $17,393,480.