A Harris County state district judge heard arguments Friday on whether he should enter a judgment of more than $358.1 million for the family of a United Airlines service worker who was paralyzed when he was hit by a fueling company’s van two years ago at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
That judgment, proposed by Houston trial attorney Randy Sorrels, reflects a $352.7 million jury verdict rendered on Oct. 25 on behalf of his clients, Ulysses Cruz and his family, plus pre-judgment interest of almost $5.4 million.
In a brief hearing Friday morning before Civil District Judge Ravi Sandill, Sorrels and attorneys for the defendant, Allied Aviation Fueling Co. of Houston, only discussed relatively minor adjustments to the proposed judgment – differing interpretations of Cruz’s lost earnings and the precise calculation of prejudgment interest – an indication that both sides expected the judge to uphold in whole or in large part the jury’s verdict. Sandill presided over a two-week trial last month in the Cruz family’s lawsuit against Allied Aviation Fueling and one of its drivers, Reginald Willis.
Rusty Hardin of Houston, the lead attorney for Allied Aviation Fueling, has said the jury’s verdict – all of it a finding of actual, rather than punitive, damages – was excessive and that he will appeal any such judgment by Sandill.
Sorrels told The Texas Lawbook he’s confident that a judgment reflecting the jury’s findings will stand up on appeal because, if anything, his client deserved even more, given the horrific nature of his client’s injuries.
“He was hospitalized then in rehab for 13 months,” Sorrels said. “He’s paralyzed from the chest down. While he was hospitalized, he suffered a stroke as a direct result of his injuries. He’s going to need 24-hour-a-day care for the rest of his life.”
Also representing the Cruz family is Alexandra Farias-Sorrels, Randy Sorrels’s wife and a fellow personal-injury lawyer.
In addition to Hardin, the lawyers Allied Aviation Fueling are Joe Roden, Ryan Higgins and Daniel R. Dutko of Rusty Hardin & Associates; and Stuart B. Brown Jr., Brett Kutnick, Justin V. Lee, and Joseph A. Fischer III of Jackson Walker.
According to court documents and testimony at trial, on the morning of Sept. 7, 2019, Cruz, a member of the United Airlines ground crew at Bush Intercontinental, was walking behind the wing of an aircraft departing from its gate when an Allied Aviation Fueling van driven by Willis hit him, throwing him several feet through the air and onto the tarmac.
Cruz, then 48, was wearing the standard bright yellow vest of “wing walkers” and holding two bright orange wands used to signal any nearby vehicles to yield to a departing aircraft. The Allied Aviation Fueling driver told investigators he didn’t see Cruz because the early morning sun was in his eyes, according to testimony.
Sorrels told the jury Cruz is unable to perform the most basic bodily functions without assistance. His wife, Cecilia, is his primary day-to-day caregiver. He has two children, a son who was 18 and a daughter who was 14 at the time of his injury.
“This award is for his real physical pain and anguish,” Sorrels said. “And, frankly, given the extent of his injuries, it could have been more.”