J. B. Hunt Transport, Inc. v. Bentley

427 S.E.2d 499, 207 Ga. App. 250, 93 Fulton County D. Rep. 83, 1992 Ga. App. LEXIS 1833
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedDecember 18, 1992
DocketA92A1416
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 427 S.E.2d 499 (J. B. Hunt Transport, Inc. v. Bentley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. B. Hunt Transport, Inc. v. Bentley, 427 S.E.2d 499, 207 Ga. App. 250, 93 Fulton County D. Rep. 83, 1992 Ga. App. LEXIS 1833 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

Beasley, Judge.

J. B. Hunt Transport, Inc. (“Hunt”) and Protective Insurance Co. (“Protective”), its insurer, appeal from the judgment entered on the jury’s verdict, awarding compensatory and punitive damages resulting from an automobile accident caused when a truck driven by Hunt’s employee, Lutter, collided with Bentley’s parked automobile.

In 1989, Hunt was the largest trucking company in the country and had 4,500 drivers in its employ. Hunt operated on a “forced dispatch” system, meaning that a driver could not refuse a load. To do [251]*251so resulted in termination. Hunt’s trucks averaged 135,000 miles per truck per year, 25 percent more miles per year than the industry average.

On August 29, 1989, Lutter was driving a 1989 tractor trailer rig for Hunt. He was being accompanied by his wife, with Hunt’s permission. He had been hired in June 1989. Upon arriving at Hunt’s Jonesboro terminal, Lutter completed a Vehicle Condition Report requesting service which indicated problems with the brakes and a “wobble” in the front end of the tractor. The tractor was taken off the road and put in for service at 2:30 a.m. on August 29. It was placed back on the road on the morning of August 30. Although there was evidence that Hunt’s practice was to put drivers in a motel when the trucks were off the road for service, there was no specific evidence as to Lutter’s whereabouts for that period.

Lutter, accompanied by his wife, took the tractor and a fully loaded trailer and headed north on Interstate 85 before noon. For approximately 10 to 20 miles, the Gallups and Brownlees followed the truck. They were afraid to pass because the truck was driving very erratically, swinging from left to right, going well off into the emergency lane across the solid white line and then veering back to the left across the center white broken line.

Near Jackson County, Georgia, the state Department of Transportation (“DOT”) was involved in utility construction. For one-and-one-half miles before that construction there were three signs and orange cones on the right white line indicating that fact. Bentley, sitting in his DOT pickup truck, was parked behind a deputy sheriff’s car. The deputy had his blue strobe lights on and the yellow flashing warning light on top of Bentley’s truck was on. Bentley’s truck was parked seven feet off the highway in the emergency lane.

Lutter veered to the left, then back to the right, hitting the deputy’s car and Bentley’s pickup truck. Lutter did not slow down when he entered the construction area, although he was not exceeding the 65 mph speed limit. Hunt’s trucks were equipped with governors that were supposed to limit speed to. 58 mph, but no records regarding the governor on this tractor were introduced. No brake lights were seen before the impact and no skid marks appeared before the crash, although there were about 30 to 35 feet of skid marks in front of Bentley’s truck where the tractor trailer rig turned over after making contact.

Bentley suffered broken bones as well as a concussion. The concussion resulted in three hematomas which left him with organic brain damage. He suffered cardiac arrest during one of the three craniotomies which he had. He is unemployable and permanently disabled.

A suit against Lutter, Hunt and Protective, seeking both compen[252]*252satory and punitive damages, was filed on October 31, 1990, by Bentley for his injuries, and by his wife on a cause of action for loss of consortium. The complaint alleged that Lutter’s conduct within the scope of his employment for Hunt was the cause of the accident, and that Hunt was derivatively liable for the actions of its employee. Although the complaint alleged that Hunt’s liability was derivative of Lutter’s conduct, as tried by the parties, the case also raised the issue of whether Hunt was independently liable based on its own conduct. See OCGA § 9-11-15 (b).

Lutter remained a Hunt employee until October 30, 1989, when he was terminated because he was unable to return after a 60-day medical leave. No disciplinary action was taken against him by Hunt as a result of the accident.

Lutter was served under the provisions of OCGA § 40-12-1 et seq., the Nonresident Motorists Act. Hunt and Protective filed an answer for Lutter on his behalf, which was allowed after plaintiffs withdrew their objection, so the factual allegations in the complaint are not deemed true by default. He did not file an answer or make any appearance in the case. Hunt acknowledged liability for the acts of its employee Lutter, but contested punitive damages. The jury awarded Mason Bentley $2,975,000 in compensatory damages, and awarded his wife $575,000 in compensatory damages on her cause of action for loss of consortium. Utilizing a special verdict form, the jury also awarded Mason Bentley $1,250,000 in punitive damages against Lutter based on evidence of his conduct in the scope of his employment, and $250,001 in punitive damages directly against Hunt for its conduct independent of Lutter.

On her cause of action, Ms. Bentley similarly received punitive damages of $1,250,000 against Lutter for his conduct and $250,001 directly against Hunt. See Stapleton v. Palmore, 250 Ga. 259 (297 SE2d 270) (1982); White v. Hubbard, 203 Ga. App. 255, 256 (416 SE2d 568) (1992) (although an action by a wife for loss of consortium brought in the same suit with her husband’s action for personal injuries is a derivative claim precluding inconsistent verdicts by the same jury, it is nevertheless a separate and distinct claim for relief).

During the trial, Hunt’s corporate representative, B. J. Keller, director of casualty claims, testified that in February 1990, the company’s copy of the driver’s daily log, required by federal law to be maintained for six months, was destroyed in the normal course of business. This log would have shown the movements of the truck, as well as the activities of Lutter during the time the tractor was in the shop and whether he had violated the federal limits on length of time a driver could drive. The company copy of the log had been destroyed even though Hunt had retained the services of Equifax to conduct an investigation of the Bentleys in anticipation of litigation in January [253]*253before the log was destroyed in February. Evidence also showed that Hunt drivers had a history of repeated violations of the federal driving time limitations, but there was no direct evidence that Lutter was violating the time limitations when the accident occurred.

1. We consider first Hunt and Protective’s fifth enumeration, that the court erred in qualifying the jury as to Protective since 100 percent of its stock is owned by Barton & Lyons and therefore, no juror could own stock in Protective.

A stipulation was entered into by the parties that Protective would remain a party to the case, bound by any judgment, but the jury would not be informed that it was a party and the bond and insurance policy would not be introduced into evidence. Appellants additionally objected to qualification as to Protective, contending that would improperly inject insurance into the suit. The premise for such an objection has, however, been resolved adversely to appellants in Grissom v. Gleason, 262 Ga.

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Bluebook (online)
427 S.E.2d 499, 207 Ga. App. 250, 93 Fulton County D. Rep. 83, 1992 Ga. App. LEXIS 1833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-b-hunt-transport-inc-v-bentley-gactapp-1992.