A Texas appellate court has largely overturned a $27 million jury verdict against ExxonMobil tied to a 2019 explosion at its Baytown Olefins petrochemical plant, finding that the evidence did not justify the scale of damages awarded to three injured workers.
In a decision issued Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals ruled that much of the compensation granted by a Harris County jury to Tamara Brown, DeMarcus Friels, and Brayan Roque was unsupported by the trial record, particularly in connection with claims of mental anguish and physical impairment.
The original verdict awarded more than $12 million to Roque, $2 million to Friels, and over $13 million to Brown.
The appellate court said the jury’s damage calculations lacked consistency and appeared excessive when compared with awards in similar personal injury cases.
Addressing Roque’s claims, the panel noted that his spinal injuries were comparable to those frequently seen in automobile accidents, where compensation for mental anguish is typically far lower.
“Damages of the magnitude awarded here are usually reserved for cases involving traumatic brain injury or catastrophic burns,” the court wrote, adding that Roque’s injuries did not rise to that level.
Brown’s mental anguish and impairment awards were also found to be disproportionate to the evidence presented at trial, the panel said.
As for Friels, the court ruled that his testimony describing anxiety, nightmares, and social withdrawal was too generalized to meet Texas’ legal standard, which requires proof of a substantial disruption to daily life or a high degree of mental suffering.
Because of those shortcomings, the court rendered a take-nothing judgment on Friels’ $1.5 million mental anguish award. ExxonMobil did not challenge his separate $500,000 award for past noneconomic damages, which remains intact.
The appeals court also invalidated awards for past and future physical impairment for Roque and Brown, citing the unusually strict jury instruction used at trial. That instruction required proof that impairments were both “substantial and extremely disabling.”
The court found that testimony about no longer playing sports with children or difficulty lifting grandchildren, while sympathetic, did not meet the “extremely disabling” threshold imposed by the trial court.
As a result, the panel ordered a new trial limited to certain remaining issues. Friels will not participate in the retrial.
ExxonMobil welcomed the ruling, saying it helps rein in disproportionate jury verdicts.
“The Court of Appeals ruling is a step in the right direction to curb excessive verdicts that are not tied to the facts,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately comment.
Case: Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Tamara Brown et al.
Case No. 14-24-00104-CV
Texas Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth District
