$807 Million for USS Cole Survivors: Taitt v. Islamic Republic of Iran

On October 12, 2000, the Navy destroyer USS Cole was docked in Aden, Yemen for routine refueling when two terrorists piloted a small boat alongside the hull and detonated explosives. The blast tore a 40-foot hole near the waterline, killed 17 American sailors, and injured 42 others. Many of the survivors lived with lasting physical injuries and severe post-traumatic stress disorder in the years that followed.

In June 2020, The Carlson Law Firm filed suit against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, joined by co-counsel from Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP and the Law Office of DeJon R. Lewis. The case was brought under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which allows victims of state-sponsored terrorism to pursue claims against designated terror-sponsoring nations in U.S. federal court. Iran had been on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1984.

The 58 plaintiffs included 25 sailors who were aboard the Cole during the attack and 33 members of their immediate families. The legal team built its case around evidence that Iran provided Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda with money, training, and logistical assistance that enabled the Cole attack. Iran did not appear to defend, and Judge Rudolph Contreras entered default.

On March 16, 2023, Judge Contreras issued findings of fact and conclusions of law holding Iran liable and awarding $807 million in total damages. The award broke down into $128.75 million in pain and suffering damages for the injured sailors, $74 million in solatium damages for family members, and $605.25 million in punitive damages. Craig Carlson and Philip Koelsch of The Carlson Law Firm were attorneys of record for the plaintiffs alongside the co-counsel teams.

The $807 million judgment in Taitt was the first of two major USS Cole verdicts The Carlson Law Firm obtained against Iran. A second case, Gunn v. Islamic Republic of Iran, resulted in a separate default judgment of nearly $2 billion entered by Judge Contreras in July 2024 on behalf of 114 additional victims and family members.