Workers’ Compensation-Vehicle accident paralyzes Brazilian cement worker

$900,000 settlement

Injuries alleged: Traumatic brain injury

Court: Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission

Tried before: Mediation

Date resolved: May 8, 2026

Amount: $900,000

Attorney for plaintiff: Stephen T. Harper, Henrico County,
Reinhardt Harper Davis

Case description: In April 2024, the claimant was driving a cement mixer for the defendant when a tire blew out, causing the vehicle to overturn. The claimant was partially ejected, rendering him quadriplegic and causing a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for 18 months following the accident. The defense alleged that the claimant failed to wear his seatbelt.

The claimant is originally from Brazil and had no family in the United States at the time of his accident. No workers’ compensation claim was ever reported to the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission by the defendant employer during that time period. The claimant’s family ultimately reached out to counsel from Brazil to assist. It was only after counsel was retained 16 months after the accident and filed a claim with the VWC that the family learned workers’ compensation insurance was available from the defendants.

Following his initial hospitalization, the claimant was transferred to a convalescent care center, where he remained in a coma and was being fed intravenously. While litigation was pending, the claimant was able to return home to Brazil to be cared for by his mother via funding from a GoFundMe campaign by his family. The claimant eventually emerged from his coma but, due to the brain injury, he remains unable to communicate and is nonresponsive.

Additional difficulties with the case included the fact that the claimant is unable to testify about how the accident happened and is unable to testify about his employment relationship with the defendant employer (who claimed he was an independent contractor). Additionally, while working for the defendant, the claimant was paid cash, so there were no records to establish his average weekly wage. Finally, because medical records reflect that the claimant was partially ejected, the defendants raised a willful misconduct defense alleging that the claimant was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

Ultimately, the insurance company agreed to settle the claim for $900,000.