On Jan. 26, 2010, at 11:25 a.m., plaintiffs’ decedent Henry “Butch” Stewart, 59, a purchasing manager for Lehigh Southwest Cement, was inspecting crushed gypsum at the cement plant for a mine in Tehachapi. As Stewart stepped between the trailers of a Westcoast Bulk tractor-trailer, the truck moved forward and ran him over. Stewart was ultimately crushed by the trailer’s tires and he died soon after the impact as a result of his . The decedent’s wife,Linda Stewart, and their two children, David Stewart, and Mary Stewart, sued Westcoast Bulk Transportation Inc.; Westcoast’s parent company, Bulk Transportation; the driver of the tractor-trailer, Frank Carmona; and another employee, Steve Purschner. The decedent’s family alleged that Carmona was negligent per se for violating several Mine Health and Safety Administration federal regulations and that Westcoast and its parent company were negligent for failing to train Carmona, or any of its drivers, in these MSHA regulations. Prior to trial, Westcoast and its parent company stipulated to course and scope for Carmona and Purschner. Thus, the two employees were dismissed from the case. Plaintiffs’ counsel called witnesses who testified that before driving forward, Carmona failed to honk his horn or give any other signal. Counsel also noted that while Carmona testified that he had looked out his mirrors and windows prior to driving forward, Carmona did not get out of his vehicle or make certain no pedestrians were in harm’s way before moving. Thus, counsel contended that Carmona violated several Mine Health and Safety Administration federal regulations that required truck drivers on mine properties, such as cement plants, to honk their horns before moving their trucks forward or to be certain by other means that no pedestrians were in harm’s way before driving forward, which included getting out and looking around the vehicle. Plaintiffs’ counsel also contended that Westcoast and its parent company failed to train Carmona or any of its drivers in those MSHA regulations during the 10 years before the incident and that this made the companies negligent per se under MSHA regulations, which required that such training be provided. The plaintiffs’ biomechanical expert testified that evidence showed that the decedent was not standing between the trailers of Carmona’s vehicle for a lengthy period of time prior to the collision and that the decedent was not holding a cell phone in his hand at the time of his death. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that based on this evidence and inconsistent witness testimony, the cell phone was planted or tampered with prior to the arrival of investigators. Counsel argued that, as such, the defendants were 100 percent at fault for the collision. Defense counsel initially contended that the cement plant where the collision occurred was not an MSHA-regulated property and thus, the regulations did not apply. Following motions in limine, defense counsel retracted this claim and, instead, claimed that there was no way Westcoast and its parent company could have known that MSHA regulations applied to cement plants, or that the defendants had a duty to follow those regulations or train their drivers to do so. However, following additional motion practice during trial where that position was rejected as an improper use of “ignorance of the law” as a defense, Westcoast and its parent company stipulated that the MSHA regulations did in fact apply to the collision. Defense counsel called witnesses who testified that Stewart was found with a cell phone open in his hand after the impact. Thus, counsel argued at trial that Stewart was at least 90 percent at fault because he acted unsafely in approaching Carmona’s vehicle by being distracted by a cell phone and by knowingly positioning himself in Carmona’s blind spot. Prior to closing arguments, plaintiffs’ counsel moved for a directed verdict on the issue of whether one of the MSHA regulations at issue, 30 CFR § 56.14200, was violated by the defendants, and it was granted., Henry Stewart sustained multiple traumatic crush as a result of being run over by the trailer. He died at the scene immediately after the accident. The decedent was 59. He is survived by his wife, an adult son and an adult daughter. Thus, the decedent’s family sought recovery of wrongful death damages.