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.
"My life is completely destroyed over MoDOT's lack of safety, and I really wish that that we could do something in her honor, to prevent this from happening again, because I just miss her," Musskopf said.
MoDOT argued in court that Anderson's unborn child was an employee, which would entail a worker's compensation case rather than a wrongful death lawsuit.
"I didn't settle. I had nowhere else to go. I had no more fight left. There was nowhere else I could take it up to fight. That's all that the state of Missouri politicians allows for an employer to pay if they cause a death of an employee," Musskopf said.
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.
"The only people that won today and yesterday is MoDOT and the state of Missouri, not the employees who are going to put their lives in danger. You know, I didn't win anything. I lost, and I lost something that no amount of money could ever give me back," Musskopf said.
She said she is now going to take this fight back to the statehouse.
"Going back to Jefferson City, making stricter laws for the highway workers. You know, I can't stop thinking about the police officer who just lost his life," she said, referencing St. Louis Officer David Lee, who was struck and killed Sunday while responding to a crash on Interstate 70. "We have to do something to protect our workers and just make change."
A gala on Nov. 9 will benefit the foundation she started in Kaitlyn's name. You can find more information here.
MoDOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.