Orange County Jury Awards $7.5 Million in FedEx Wrongful Death Suit

In what is believed to be an Orange County record, a jury awarded $7.5 million to the mother of a 22-year old woman who was killed by a FedEx truck.

22-year-old Chelsea Joy Kashergen was struck and killed by a FedEx Ground home delivery vehicle on June 20, 2013, while riding her bicycle in her Fullerton neighborhood.

Ms. Rennie was represented at trial by Orange County personal injury attorneys Brian Panish and Deborah Chang of Panish Shea & Boyle LLP.

Before trial, FedEx offered the plaintiff $750,000. The Orange County jury awarded her 10 times more than that.

Attorney Brian Panish stated, “It was important that Chelsea’s story was told. We are proud that her mother stood up to a company as large as FedEx. It is disappointing that FedEx refused to accept full financial responsibility for what it did, particularly during the holidays, which is its most profitable time.”

The $7.5 million verdict was for the loss of the relationship between the mother and daughter. Shortly before trial, FedEx admitted that it was at fault for Chelsea’s death, saying the truck may have cut the a corner when it struck Chelsea. However, FedEx heavily disputed how much the relationship between mother and daughter was worth. The evidence presented at trial focused on the unique and extraordinary relationship between the two women.

Ms. Kashergen was an accomplished musician, writer, and a 2012 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Cal State Fullerton. At the time of her death, Ms. Kashergen was the President of the New Orleans Jazz Club of Southern California and played Dixieland Jazz in a variety of venues. She was the only child of plaintiff Nancy Rennie.

You can read Fullerton College’s detailed appreciation of Chelsea’s life here.