Werner Enterprises Lawsuit: $90M Reversal, Abarca Wages, EEOC

Werner Enterprises, the Omaha-based truckload carrier, is at the center of three notable lawsuits: a Texas personal injury case in which the state Supreme Court reversed a roughly $90 million jury verdict in June 2025, a long-running driver wage class action that reached a preliminary $18 million settlement in early 2026, and a federal disability discrimination case brought by the EEOC that ended in a judgment against the company. Each case sits at a different stage and answers a different question about the company’s legal exposure.

The $90 Million Crash Verdict and Its Reversal

The headline case grew out of a fatal crash on Interstate 20 near Odessa, Texas, on December 30, 2014. During a winter storm, a Ford F-350 pickup driven by Zaragosa “Trey” Salinas hit black ice, lost control, and spun across a 42-foot grassy median into westbound traffic, where it collided with a Werner 18-wheeler. The entire sequence took about two seconds.¹

The Werner truck was driven by Shiraz Ali, a trainee whose instructor was asleep in the sleeper berth. Ali was traveling below the posted speed limit, estimated at 43 to 45 miles per hour at impact, and braked as soon as he saw the pickup.¹ Jennifer Blake and her three children were passengers in the Salinas truck. Seven-year-old Zackery Blake died three days later. Twelve-year-old Brianna Blake suffered a permanent brain injury and became a quadriplegic requiring around-the-clock care. Jennifer Blake and fourteen-year-old Nathan Blake sustained traumatic brain injuries and other serious injuries.²

The Trial and Jury Award

The Blake family sued Werner and Ali in Harris County District Court in Houston. Trial ran 25 days over six weeks in 2018.³ Plaintiffs argued Ali drove too fast for icy conditions, failed to keep a proper lookout, and traveled in the left lane. They also brought direct claims against Werner for negligent training, supervision, and assignment of an inexperienced driver.² Werner had accepted vicarious liability for Ali’s conduct and argued Salinas was solely responsible.¹

On May 21, 2018, the jury voted 10 to 2 for a total award of approximately $90 million: about $68.2 million to Brianna Blake, $16.5 million to Jennifer Blake, and $5 million to Nathan Blake.⁴ Fault was apportioned 70 percent to Werner employees other than Ali, 14 percent to Ali, and 16 percent to Salinas.¹ A Houston appellate court affirmed the judgment en banc in May 2023.³

What the Texas Supreme Court Held

On June 27, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the judgment and rendered a take-nothing verdict for Werner and Ali.⁵ The core holding was that Ali’s conduct was not a proximate cause of the Blakes’ injuries as a matter of law.

The court separated proximate cause into two parts. It assumed, without deciding, that Ali’s speed was a but-for cause of the collision, meaning the crash would not have happened in exactly the same way at a different speed. But but-for causation alone is not enough. A defendant’s conduct must also be a “substantial factor” in producing the harm, a concept the court said carries “the idea of responsibility.”¹

Ali’s speed and his presence on the highway, the court concluded, only “furnished the condition” that made the crash possible. The sole proximate cause was the “sudden, unexpected hurtling” of the Blake family’s vehicle across the median into oncoming traffic. Because the entire event lasted about two seconds, Ali had no meaningful chance to react.¹ The court called the collision a “happenstance of place and time.”⁵

Because Ali was not a proximate cause, the direct claims against Werner for training and supervision also failed. Those claims, the court reasoned, were “hinged on Ali’s conduct” and could not stand on their own.⁶

Justice Bland, joined by Justices Boyd and Huddle, partly dissented, arguing the facts were distinguishable from the precedents the majority relied on.¹ Justice Young, joined by Justice Huddle, wrote separately urging the court to adopt the “Admission Rule,” which would bar evidence about hiring and training once an employer admits the driver was acting in the scope of employment. Young noted that in the Werner trial itself, the jury nearly doubled Werner’s share of responsibility after derivative negligence claims were added.⁷

What the Ruling Changes

The decision reshapes several points of Texas personal injury and trucking law. A defendant whose conduct only “creates the condition which made the injury possible” cannot be held liable; plaintiffs must show the conduct was itself a substantial factor in causing the harm.⁸ Employer liability for negligent training or supervision does not survive when the underlying driver conduct is not a proximate cause.⁶ And foreseeability is context-specific: the court distinguished this case from an older precedent about a narrow two-lane bridge, emphasizing that the 42-foot median on I-20 made a cross-median incursion far less foreseeable.

The ruling also intersects with Texas House Bill 19, a 2021 statute creating a bifurcated trial procedure for commercial motor vehicle cases. Where the employer stipulates the driver was in the scope of employment, evidence about hiring and training practices is generally excluded from the first trial phase unless the plaintiff prevails on the underlying negligence.⁹ Those protections were not in effect when the Werner case was tried.

The Abarca Driver Wage Class Action

Separately, Werner has been the defendant in a decade-long wage class action filed by company drivers. The lead case, Abarca v. Werner Enterprises, Inc. (Case No. 8:14-cv-00319), was filed in October 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska and later consolidated with Smith v. Werner Enterprises and Vester v. Werner Enterprises.¹⁰

Drivers alleged Werner failed to pay minimum wages for all hours worked, including time in sleeper berths, waiting for loads, inspecting vehicles, and securing cargo. The California subclass added claims for missed duty-free meal and rest periods, unlawful wage deductions, and inadequate pay statements.¹¹ The court certified two classes in March 2018: a California class of drivers who resided in California and picked up or delivered at least one load in the state between June 4, 2010, and July 14, 2023, and a Nebraska class of “qualified drivers” who carried at least one load for Werner anywhere in the country during the same period.¹² The court also ruled during the litigation that a $4 transaction fee Werner charged for wage advances was unlawful under California and Nebraska law because drivers had not agreed to it in writing.¹³

Settlement Terms and Status

The parties reached an $18 million settlement in October 2025 covering nearly 100,000 current and former drivers.¹⁴ Werner denies the allegations and maintains it paid drivers in accordance with applicable law.¹⁰

The fund covers class member payments, administrative costs of approximately $282,300, a $100,000 allocation for California PAGA claims, service awards of up to $15,000 each for the seven named plaintiffs and $250 each for 21 other participating drivers, attorneys’ fees of up to $6 million, and litigation costs capped at $2.25 million. Base payouts are $20 for Nebraska class members and $40 for California class members, with the remainder distributed on a pro-rated basis by length of employment during the class period.¹⁰

The district court granted preliminary approval on February 5, 2026, calling the deal “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”¹³ Notice went to class members on March 5, 2026, by mail, email, and text. The objection and opt-out deadline was May 4, 2026, and the final fairness hearing is scheduled for July 24, 2026, at the Roman L. Hruska Federal Courthouse in Omaha.¹⁵

EEOC Disability Discrimination Judgment

The third case is a federal disability discrimination action. In 2018, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Werner in the District of Nebraska in two related cases. One (No. 8:18-cv-00329) alleged Werner refused to hire Andrew Deuschle, a deaf applicant with a commercial driver’s license and an FMCSA hearing exemption, and that the company’s employment application included unlawful pre-offer disability-related questions.¹⁶

The companion case (No. 8:18-cv-00462), involving another deaf applicant, Victor Robinson, went to trial. On September 1, 2023, the jury found Werner violated the ADA by refusing to hire Robinson and failing to provide a reasonable accommodation. Jurors awarded $75,000 for pain and suffering and $36 million in punitive damages. The court reduced the total to the federal statutory cap of $300,000 in combined compensatory and punitive damages. On January 11, 2024, Senior Judge John M. Gerrard entered a final judgment of $335,682, consisting of the capped damages plus $35,682 in lost wages and prejudgment interest. The court also imposed a three-year injunction requiring Werner to submit semi-annual reports to the EEOC on deaf truck driver applicants and hiring.¹⁷

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises was founded in 1956 by Clarence L. Werner and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker WERN and is among the five largest truckload carriers in the United States, operating roughly 9,850 power units with about 9,100 drivers.¹⁸ Derek Leathers has served as CEO since 2016 and chairman since 2021. Nathan Meisgeier was promoted to president in January 2024 while retaining his role as chief legal officer, and represented the company publicly after the Texas Supreme Court ruling.¹⁹

1
Texas Supreme Court. Werner Enterprises Inc. v. Blake, No. 23-0493
2
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3
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Landline Media. The Most Bizarre Nuclear Verdict of Them All
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Werner Enterprises. Texas Supreme Court Reverses $90 Million Judgment Against Werner Enterprises
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Cozen O’Connor. Texas Supreme Court Narrows Employer Liability and Explains Standard for Proximate Cause
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CaseMine. Wiping the Slate Clean on the Admission Rule: Werner v. Blake
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Hanson Bridgett. Trucking Industry Verdict
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Texas Legislature. HB 19 Analysis, 87th Legislature
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TruckerClassAction.com. Abarca v. Werner Enterprises Settlement FAQs
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FreightWaves. Werner Settlement Ready To Go in Drivers’ Lawsuit That Dates to 2014
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DHKL Law. Abarca v. Werner Enterprises Inc.
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Law360. Company Agrees To Pay $18M To Settle Truckers’ Wage Suit
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ClaimDepot. Trucker Class Action – Abarca v. Werner
16
EEOC. Werner Enterprises Sued by EEOC for Disability Discrimination in Hiring
17
EEOC. Nebraska Court Orders Trucking Company To Pay Deaf Driver Punitive Damages, Lost Wages
18
Werner Enterprises. Werner Enterprises Investor Relations
19
Werner Enterprises. Executive Management Team