Hillsborough Jury Awards $64.5 Million to Worker Crushed by Collapsing Building at Mosaic Mine Site

In 2009, Robert Matthews was working at a Mosaic-owned mine site in Hillsborough County when a pre-manufactured building that had just been installed at the entrance to the facility came crashing down on him. Matthews had been removing the axles and wheels used to transport the structure into position when the ground gave way, the building shifted, and roughly 11,000 pounds of steel fell onto his body.

The impact fractured his pelvis and hip, severed an artery in his right leg, and damaged multiple internal organs. Matthews spent three months in the hospital and underwent dozens of surgeries. He was in his mid-twenties at the time and has been permanently disabled since.

C. Steven Yerrid of The Yerrid Law Firm represented Matthews at trial, pursuing claims against Mosaic, Bartow-based Semco Construction, and Mark Rice Inc., the company that employed Matthews. The theory the case was built on centered on the preparation of the site: the ground had not been properly leveled or stabilized before the heavy structure was set down, and the defendants lacked required building permits. When a passing train caused the ground to vibrate, the poorly prepared surface allowed the building to shift and fall.

Mosaic entered into a confidential settlement with Matthews before the case went to the jury and was not subject to the jury's award. After two weeks of trial and roughly four hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of $64.5 million. Jurors assigned 75 percent of the fault to Mosaic, 15 percent to Semco (roughly $10 million of the award), and the remaining 10 percent to Mark Rice Inc.

No appeal or post-verdict reduction of the Semco judgment appears in public records.