ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Transportation earlier this month settled a wrongful death lawsuit involving a crash that killed two of its employees, one of whom was six months pregnant.
In an order and judgment dated Sept. 6, all parties agreed that MoDOT would pay $505,520 to the family of Kaitlyn Anderson and her unborn son, waiving a jury trial.
Anderson, 25, and James Brooks, 58, were killed in 2021 when a car drove through traffic cones and struck them while they were working on Telegraph Road in St. Louis County. Anderson was six months pregnant with her unborn son, Jaxx Jarvis, who also died. A third worker was seriously injured.
Kaitlyn's mother, Tonya Musskopf, and Jaxx's father, Austin Jarvis, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the man who caused the crash, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and four supervisors, alleging the supervisors knew Anderson was pregnant and failed to protect her on the job.
MoDOT in return argued that Anderson's unborn child was an employee, which would entail a worker's compensation case rather than a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments from both sides in March. In an opinion issued in June, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that MoDOT supervisors had immunity from wrongful death lawsuits regarding the crash.
MoDOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
