A judge has upheld a $14-million verdict against a local marine terminal company for negligence in an accident where a truck driver was nearly crushed to death on Pier J.
SSA Marine Terminals had appealed the verdict and the award, arguing 41-year-old driver Felipe Curiel’s injuries were not that serious and the incident was pure accident.
A Long Beach jury disagreed during a month-long trial, finding that poor supervision of a crane operator and possible drug use on the job led to a 25,000-pound container falling on Curiel’s cab in the Port of Long Beach.