BIG WORKERS’ COMP AWARD IN OK.

A Mayes County, Okla., District Court jury ordered Transwood Inc., a national trucking company headquartered in Omaha, Neb., to pay its Pryor, Okla. office assistant/part-time driver $2.176 million in a wrongful termination suit that she filed on behalf of her late husband. The award is the largest civil verdict in Mayes County history. According to the law firm of Holden & McKenna, the case stemmed from a workers’ compensation claim filed against Transwood by the plaintiff’s husband. The plaintiff, Paula J. Breedlove, claimed Transwood fired her late husband, Billy Breedlove, and attempted to destroy his professional reputation after Mr. Breedlove filed a workers’ comp claim with the company after suffering a work-related injury. Mr. Breedlove had been a truck driver working out of Transwood’s Pryor terminal and Mrs. Breedlove is employed at the same facility as an office assistant/part-time driver. Mr. Breedlove subsequently died of cancer. The case is expected to be appealed.