$8.5 million settlement reached in construction worker’s death

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Personal injury law firm SiebenCarey has announced that it has reached an $8.5 million settlement in the death of a construction worker who was crushed by a dump truck in downtown St. Paul in 2022.

Part of the large settlement reflects the pain and emotional turmoil suffered before the worker’s death, a remedy available thanks to changes in the state’s wrongful death laws in the Omnibus Judiciary and Public Safety Bill enacted in 2023.

Peter Michael Davis was a 61-year-old construction worker for subcontractor SGP Contracting Inc. He also had been a longtime employee of the St. Paul Regional Water Services Department.

Davis was working construction on Wabasha Street just south of Seventh Street East in downtown St. Paul on Sept. 28, 2022, when a loaded dump truck operated by Dawson Barber and owned by Ti-Zack Concrete backed up to the construction site. It backed up for approximately six seconds before it hit Davis, traveling just under 70 feet before stopping. Captured on a horrifying video, Davis was aware of the truck for approximately 1.5 seconds, was knocked down, and had one second of excruciating pain as the truck ran over him from his feet to his skull. Davis was pronounced dead at the scene.

Barber, who was seen using a cellphone immediately after Davis’ death, apparently texted a friend, “I’m f***ed.” The truck driver tested “presumptive positive” for THC and cocaine.

“We know some construction workers struggle with opioid abuse,” said Jeffrey S. Sieben, an attorney with SiebenCarey Personal Injury Law. “Strict drug testing protocols exist when commercial motor vehicles are in use. This case shows the horrific results when those protocols are ignored.”

Davis’ wife of 35 years, Kristi Marie Davis, filed a wrongful death suit. Her suit alleged that there was an inadequate backup alarm, that the truck was traveling too quickly, that there was no spotter, and that the driver did not check his mirrors before backing up.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that there was spoilation of evidence. Ti-Zack did not preserve evidence of Barber’s drug use, and did not take him to a proper facility to collect a valid specimen after the accident. Additionally, Barber’s phone was found to have been intentionally destroyed after Davis’ death. District Judge Mark Ireland imposed sanctions against the defendants.

“During our investigation of Peter’s tragic death on behalf of his widow, Kristi Davis, we uncovered several serious failures on the part of the defendant,” said Sieben. “These included drug use by the driver of the truck, destruction of evidence, and negligence in drug testing and other safety protocols.”

“In other words, if the rules would have been followed, Pete would still be here,” Sieben added.

Sieben said that this was a very complex and emotional case. “We had security footage showing Peter Davis being crushed to death from the feet to the head,” Sieben said. “It was pretty sad to watch.

“He experienced the pain until his head was crushed. His head was the last part of his body to be crushed.”

Sieben retained a forensic pathologist who opined on not only the pain that a person experiences as they are being crushed, but also about the period of apprehension of imminent harm that creates emotional distress prior to the physical pain.

Ultimately, the case did not go to trial and was settled for $8.5 million. Part of that amount reflected the agony that Davis suffered from when he was first struck by the dump truck to when he lost consciousness and died.

In 2023, amendments to the state’s wrongful death and survival statute (Minn. Stat. §§ 573.01, 573.02)  became effective. The amendments reflected that duly appointed administrators can bring claims for “all damages suffered by the decedent resulting from the injury prior to the decedent’s death” in addition to losses that were previously available. In other words, those filing wrongful death claims can receive damages for the physical pain and emotional turmoil a loved one suffers before their demise.

As the ability to recover such damages is new in Minnesota, Sieben looked at case law in Wisconsin. He noted that there were significant verdicts there for even a few seconds.

“It’s a whole new world for Minnesota lawyers because there would have been a good argument that plaintiff would not even be entitled to show a jury Peter’s crushed body or the close-up images and ask them to contemplate what that was really like, because we weren’t entitled to bring those types of damages before,” Sieben said.

“There’s been a need to examine those final moments and for good reason,” Sieben added.

In addition to the settlement, Ti-Zack will hire a new safety director. All new drivers must watch the video of Davis being crushed by the dump truck as part of their onboarding and training process.

Steven Pattee, managing partner at Tweksbury & Kerfeld, said, “Ti-Zack Concrete Inc. has no comment on this matter.”

No criminal charges were filed in Davis’ death.

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