Todd Johnson | Kansas City Personal Injury Lawyer

$12.875 million in settlements - Medical malpractice

The parents of a girl who suffered permanent injuries at birth reached a $7.75 million settlement with the hospital where she was born. Both the plaintiffs’ attorneys and defense counsel declined to name the parties, citing a confidentiality clause in the agreement. But based on court records and previous Missouri Lawyers Media reporting, the settlement stems from the same incident that resulted in a $5.1 million settlement against the federal government last year. The couple, Jamie and Nathan Searcy, filed suit after their daughter was delivered in October 2012 by vaginal birth even though the mother previously had two cesarean-section procedures. A vaginal birth after cesarian, or VBAC, delivery carries a risk of a uterine rupture at the prior C-section scar. The lawsuit alleged that Jamie Searcy suffered such a rupture when labor was induced. The baby was delivered by emergency C-section, during which doctors discovered the mother’s abdomen was filled with blood. The baby was limp and not breathing. She was diagnosed with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy and a brain injury. Now 8, the child cannot walk, talk, use her arms, stand, sit up or carry out any activities of daily living. Because the obstetrician’s clinic received federal funding, the Searcys brought claims against the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Their $5.1 million settlement in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, finalized in February 2019, was the 25th-largest plaintiffs’ win of that year, as tracked by Missouri Lawyers Media. As that story noted, the Searcys also had filed separate, related claims in Camden County Circuit Court against Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, where the birth took place. The state suit alleged that the health care provider had negligently credentialed the obstetrician, Dr. Robert Nielsen. Nielsen himself was dis-missed from the case in 2018, according to court records. A Camden County judge approved the settlement on behalf of the minor plaintiff on Oct. 16, bringing the total value of the case to $12.875 million.

$1.9 million settlement - Dump truck crash

The children of a woman killed in a fatal crash involving a dump truck have agreed to settle their wrongful-death lawsuit against the truck’s driver and two associated companies for $1.9 million, according to the family’s lawyers. Andrew Nantz and Todd Johnson of Votava Nantz & Johnson in Kansas City, the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said the case settled Sept. 5. As part of the settlement agreement, the identities of the woman, the truck driver, companies and defense attorneys are confidential. The crash occurred in October 2017 on Missouri Highway 7 in Blue Springs, Johnson said. The woman had just left the home of one of her children and was making a right-hand turn from a side street onto the highway when the dump truck struck her vehicle. “The dump truck failed to stop at a stop light and went through the intersection and collided with our clients’ mother,” he said. She suffered injuries to her torso and pelvis before she died at an area hospital. Johnson and Nantz said in a release that, at the time of the crash, the driver of the dump truck was driving a truck owned by a sole proprietor who owned two dump trucks. The truck owner sent the driver to the Kansas City area to haul loads for a construction project. A separate trucking company had responsibility on the same project to locate and borrow additional dump trucks to help haul loads from local quarries to the construction site. The plaintiffs alleged the owner of the second company sent text messages to the driver of the truck with dispatch instructions. They also alleged that the owner of the dump truck was paid by the second trucking company for loads hauled by the driver and that the dump truck was returning to a drop lot controlled by the second trucking company at the time of the crash.

$3 million verdict - Police excessive force

A federal jury in St. Louis awarded $3 million to the family of a man who died after being tased by a Ferguson police officer. Jason Moore left his home on a Saturday morning. When police found him, he walked out from behind a building. He was naked and unarmed and having a sudden mental health crisis. A police cruiser pulled up and the officer told Moore to put his hands over his head and come over. He fired his Taser when Moore did not comply. The police report said the officer fired his Taser at Moore three times and gave him time between applications to comply with the officer. However, the Taser firing sequence download showed the officer tased Moore four times for 21 seconds out of a 23-second period. A second officer arrived on the scene and observed Moore on his back, with the Taser having full effect. Moore then began having trouble breathing and officers gave chest compressions until EMTs arrived. Moore, however, was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.A federal jury in St. Louis awarded $3 million to the family of a man who died after being tased by a Ferguson police officer. Jason Moore left his home on a Saturday morning. When police found him, he walked out from behind a building. He was naked and unarmed and having a sudden mental health crisis. A police cruiser pulled up and the officer told Moore to put his hands over his head and come over. He fired his Taser when Moore did not comply. The police report said the officer fired his Taser at Moore three times and gave him time between applications to comply with the officer. However, the Taser firing sequence download showed the officer tased Moore four times for 21 seconds out of a 23-second period. A second officer arrived on the scene and observed Moore on his back, with the Taser having full effect. Moore then began having trouble breathing and officers gave chest compressions until EMTs arrived. Moore, however, was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.A federal jury in St. Louis awarded $3 million to the family of a man who died after being tased by a Ferguson police officer. Jason Moore left his home on a Saturday morning. When police found him, he walked out from behind a building. He was naked and unarmed and having a sudden mental health crisis. A police cruiser pulled up and the officer told Moore to put his hands over his head and come over. He fired his Taser when Moore did not comply. The police report said the officer fired his Taser at Moore three times and gave him time between applications to comply with the officer. However, the Taser firing sequence download showed the officer tased Moore four times for 21 seconds out of a 23-second period. A second officer arrived on the scene and observed Moore on his back, with the Taser having full effect. Moore then began having trouble breathing and officers gave chest compressions until EMTs arrived. Moore, however, was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

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2020

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Settlement with hospital for birth injury builds on prior federal suit"

2020

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Business settles with landlord over trash fires"

2020

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "House-flippers settle suit against Clay County"

2019

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Woman burned by firework settles with brother-in-law"

2019

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Ray, Pettis counties settle suit with couple"

2019

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Couple settles malpractice suit for birth injury"

2019

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Worker struck with dropped tool settles just before trial"

2019

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Fatal dump truck crash results in $1.9m settlement"

2018

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Family settles wrongful death lawsuit for $350k"

2018

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Jury awards $3 million to relatives of man who died after Ferguson police used Taser on him"

2016

New York Times "In Ferguson, Scrutiny on Police is Growing"

2014

Missouri Lawyers Weekly "Family of police officer shot at training settles"

2011

Columbia Daily Tribune "City pays off man injured in Taser use"

2009

UMKC Law Review "A Second Chance"

1999