Trial Magazine

Ranger Construction Industries, Inc., was performing construction on I-75 in Broward County, Fla., and had stored concrete barrier walls at one of its construction sites located in the median between the highway’s northbound and southbound lanes. Late one evening, the company needed to deliver the walls to another construction site just south of the storage location.

Two trucks, provided by Double B Line Corp., were lined up in the median construction site facing northbound. As the first tractor-trailer, operated by Juan Calero, was being loaded with the walls, the Ranger construction supervisor allegedly left the site without instructing the drivers on how to exit the median.

After his truck was loaded, Calero exited the median from the northbound position and attempted to make a U-turn, crossing all four southbound lanes and impeding oncoming traffic.

Southbound motorist Raymond Astaphan, a 29-year-old medical student, encountered the tractor-trailer with no time to react. His car struck the trailer, which sheared off the car’s roof, killing Astaphan instantly.

His mother, on behalf of her son’s estate, sued Ranger Construction, Calero, and Double B Line Corp. Among other claims, the plaintiff alleged that Ranger failed to properly supervise Calero and make sure that the work zone was safe for motorists by properly instructing Calero on how to safely exit the median.

The plaintiff also alleged that Ranger was negligent in failing to order a lane closure to allow the tractor-trailers to safely exit the median and enter the interstate. Based on the circumstances, including the provisions of Ranger’s contract with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the plaintiff argued that the only safe way off the median that night was with a lane closure, proper supervision, lighting, and the Florida Highway Patrol’s assistance. Instead, the plaintiff asserted, Ranger Construction and its supervisor chose to leave Calero unsupervised in complete darkness, in an area where he had never been, and with instructions merely to get southbound to Ranger’s other construction zone.

The plaintiff reportedly discovered that Ranger had received months of complaints from the public, along with an official “verbal warning” from FDOT just eight days before the crash, regarding highway construction vehicles interfering with and disrupting traffic. Rather than attempting to remedy the problem, the plaintiff claimed, Ranger managers simply blamed the truck drivers and the motoring public for the problems construction vehicles were having entering and exiting the medians.

The plaintiff also alleged that Calero operated the truck in a negligent and reckless manner.

The jury found that Calero was acting as Ranger Construction’s agent and that Ranger was engaged in an inherently dangerous activity. The jury awarded $20 million in compensatory damages, apportioning fault equally between the two defendants. It also awarded $25 million in punitive damages against Ranger and $5,000 in punitive damages against Calero. Defense posttrial motions are pending as of this writing.

Citation: Astaphan v. Ranger Constr. Indus., Inc., No. CACE1501299 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Broward Cnty. Oct. 25, 2017).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Stuart N. Ratzan, Stuart J. Weissman, Evan B. Gilead, and Lincoln J. Connolly, all of Miami.

Plaintiff experts: Olaf Jacobson, accident reconstruction, Littleton, Colo.; Joseph Sala, human factors, Philadelphia; Richard Cabrera, highway construction, Plantation, Fla.; Anita Kerezman, transportation safety, Palm Springs, Calif.; and Frederick Raffa, economics, Orlando, Fla.

Defense experts: Gus Quesada, construction engineering, Miami; Colin Jordan, accident reconstruction, West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Dave Elrich, forensic accounting, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.