Johnston County Jury Awards $3 Million to Truck Driver Struck by Log at North Carolina Logging Deck

Keave Bayes was working as a commercial truck driver when he arrived at a Johnston County, North Carolina logging deck operated by Craig Rutland. As pulp wood was loaded onto his trailer by machinery run by Kenneth Andrews, a large log fell onto the driver's side and struck Bayes in the head, causing a traumatic brain injury. The incident left Bayes with lasting cognitive and physical impairment.

Bayes retained John Paul Godwin of Hardison and Cochran, together with co-counsel Sanford Thompson of Sanford Thompson PLLC, to pursue a negligence claim against Craig Rutland and Kenneth Andrews. Under North Carolina's pure contributory-negligence rule, any fault attributed to the plaintiff can bar recovery entirely, raising the stakes at trial.

At trial in Johnston County Superior Court, Godwin and Thompson presented evidence that the logging deck's operations exposed workers and visiting drivers to an unreasonable risk of falling timber. The jury, which heard expert testimony from a neurosurgeon and a rehabilitation specialist, returned a verdict of $3 million in favor of Bayes in April 2022.

The case drew further attention after trial. The logging operation's commercial liability insurer, Nautilus Insurance Company, disputed whether its policy covered the judgment. Nautilus filed a declaratory-judgment action in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and the district court found no coverage under a worker-injury exclusion. The Fourth Circuit affirmed that ruling on June 21, 2024, in Nautilus Insurance Co. v. Bayes, No. 23-1421. The coverage dispute did not alter the underlying $3 million jury verdict.

The NC Advocates for Justice recognized the result in a member-submitted notice crediting Godwin and Thompson with the verdict. Law360 and Expert Institute both reported on the case, each referencing the underlying $3 million award and identifying Godwin of Hardison and Cochran as counsel for Bayes.