STAFF REPORT
Glasgow News 1
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has reversed a multimillion-dollar judgment tied to a deadly 2012 workplace accident along Ky. 90 east of Glasgow, ordering all claims in the long-running case dismissed.
The decision wipes out more than $22.5 million in damages that had been awarded in Barren Circuit Court over a retaining wall collapse that killed one worker and injured three others.
According to the appellate opinion, the case began after a large concrete form being used to build a retaining wall collapsed on Oct. 8, 2012, during a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet highway widening project along Ky. 90.
Kenneth Decker, an employee of VanMeter Contracting, was killed, and three co-workers – John McIntosh, Steve Nelson and Jamie Groce – were injured.
VanMeter was working as a subcontractor for Scotty’s Contracting and Stone, LLC on the project.
The injured workers and Decker’s estate received workers’ compensation benefits and later sued Transportation Cabinet engineers for negligence, alleging they failed to ensure safety standards were met at the site.
The engineers argued they were immune from liability based on their professional duties.
A trial court initially agreed they had a secondary duty to shut down the project if unsafe conditions were discovered, and the engineers then filed third-party claims against Scotty’s and VanMeter seeking indemnity under Kentucky’s Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction.
Barren Circuit Judge John T. Alexander ultimately conducted a bench trial in which only the plaintiffs participated, presenting evidence of duty, breach and causation without cross-examination or opposing witnesses.
In a 2023 ruling, later amended in February 2024, Alexander found the engineers had breached their duty to inspect the project and enforce safety regulations, assigning them 100 percent of the fault.
The court awarded more than $12.5 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs and $10 million in punitive damages against the engineers, citing gross negligence.
On appeal, Scotty’s and VanMeter challenged the judgment, arguing it violated Kentucky’s Workers’ Compensation Act, improperly imposed indemnity obligations and denied them due process and a jury trial.
The Court of Appeals agreed that Kentucky law grants trial courts jurisdiction over tort claims against non-employer third parties but limits employer liability to workers’ compensation benefits.
The panel concluded that plaintiffs had improperly pursued claims against Scotty’s as an “up-the-ladder” employer that is protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act.
The court also held that the engineers’ indemnity claim against Scotty’s was void under KRS 371.180, which prohibits indemnification for a contractor’s own negligence, and that the engineers had no valid right to assign to the plaintiffs.
In addition, the appellate judges found errors in the way the bench trial was conducted, including what the opinion described as an improper ex parte proceeding and the denial of a jury trial.
The Court of Appeals said it was impossible for the engineers’ alleged negligence to be the sole proximate cause of the accident and faulted the trial court for failing to determine the primary and efficient cause of the collapse.
Rather than send the case back for a new trial, the panel said a retrial would only add more delay with no benefit to the plaintiffs, who cannot recover additional damages beyond workers’ compensation or prior agreements.
“The only just solution,” the court wrote, was to reverse the judgment outright and remand the case with instructions to dismiss all claims without exception.
The decision was unanimous.
Key Facts
• Kentucky Court of Appeals reverses Barren Circuit Court judgment in 2012 workplace accident case
• Case stems from Oct. 8, 2012 retaining wall collapse along Ky. 90 east of Glasgow
• VanMeter employee Kenneth Decker was killed; three co-workers were injured
• VanMeter was a subcontractor for Scotty’s Contracting and Stone on a highway widening project
• Trial court had found Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers solely at fault
• Trial court awarded more than $12.5 million in compensatory and $10 million in punitive damages
• Appeals court cites workers’ compensation as exclusive remedy for injured employees
• Scotty’s deemed an up-the-ladder employer protected by Workers’ Compensation Act
• Engineers’ indemnity claim against Scotty’s ruled void under KRS 371.180
• Court finds trial errors including improper bench trial and due process concerns
• Appeals panel unanimously reverses and orders all claims dismissed
• Nearly 14 years have passed since the 2012 accident
More to Know
The Court of Appeals has ordered the Barren Circuit Court to dismiss all claims in the case, effectively ending the current round of litigation at the trial court level.
Parties still have the option to seek discretionary review from the Kentucky Supreme Court, but no such filing had been completed by the publication of the ruling.
