Jury Awards $1.48 Million to Four UW Band Students Hurt in Apple Cup Bus Rollover

On Thanksgiving morning 2018, a charter bus carrying 56 members of the University of Washington marching band was heading east on Interstate 90 toward Pullman for the Apple Cup when the driver lost control on an icy, slushy stretch of highway near George in Grant County. The bus slid off the road and rolled onto its side. Forty-five of the 56 people on board sustained injuries, and 47 were taken to hospitals for evaluation or treatment.

Four students brought a civil lawsuit against the bus driver, Nancy Aguilar, and the charter company, MTR Western. Their claims centered on a straightforward allegation: the driver was traveling too fast for the icy conditions, and the bus had no seatbelts to restrain passengers during the rollover.

The most serious injuries belonged to Alexia Brown, a freshman alto saxophone player who was ejected from the bus during the roll. She was found tangled in a barbed-wire fence and suffered multiple spinal fractures along with post-traumatic stress disorder. She did not march or play with the band again. Edith Myers-Power, a section leader, sustained an AC joint separation that required surgery and left her unable to perform. Monica Mursch broke her clavicle and experienced post-crash trauma. Jacob Koreen suffered bruises, lacerations, and PTSD.

Anthony Marsh of Herrmann Law Group represented all four plaintiffs. The case was reportedly the first among the crash victims to reach a jury, as other injured passengers had settled earlier under confidentiality agreements. During the trial, one plaintiff performed an original song about the experience to help jurors understand its lasting emotional impact.

After deliberating, the King County Superior Court jury returned a total verdict of $1,482,200. Brown received the largest individual award at $569,000. Marsh said after the verdict that his clients 'feel vindicated to the extent that we always viewed this as a far more serious crash than MTR did.' No appeal or remittitur reducing the award has been reported by any of the news outlets that covered the verdict.