Road To Record $199 Million Award Began With Hunch On Guardrails

Halt Shipments

The Texas suit sparked concerns about highway safety across the country, causing dozens of states to ban new installations and Trinity to halt shipments of the ET-Plus. Lawmakers asked whether the FHWA responded adequately to highway officials’ mounting worries about the product. U.S. prosecutors in Boston opened a criminal probe into the relationship between Trinity and the FHWA.

Harman hasn’t had to fight alone. A fleet of lawyers at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, whose founder, David Boies, has battled the likes of Microsoft Corp. and MasterCard Inc., shepherded the case through trial.

“The evidence of fraud in this case could not have been more compelling,” said Nicholas Gravante Jr., one of Harman’s lawyers.

To help build his case, Harman criss-crossed the country dozens of times, documenting guardrail accidents while juggling two mobile phones and a stream of calls from lawyers, journalists and crash victims. He munched on jalapenos and nibbled salami as he drove, often through the night. When he did sleep, he spent so many nights away from his wife and two young daughters in Bristol, Virginia, that he’s now a platinum elite member of Marriott International Inc.’s rewards program.

Disgruntled Rival?

Harman said he wasn’t fazed by claims that he was a disgruntled rival seeking revenge over another lawsuit between him and Trinity. But he was pained knowing his family was seeing him portrayed by industry critics as an opportunistic, money-hungry competitor. As part of Tuesday’s ruling, the judge ordered Trinity to pay $19 million of Harman’s legal fees and expenses.

“I’m sure they feel vindicated that some of the stuff they read about their father was wrong,” Harman said of his daughters. “I had to have faith that my family knew what I stood for.”

Harman has been spending time in Washington seeking to build support for Congressional hearings into the ET-Plus. So far, eight senators have urged U.S. officials to investigate existing safety protocols or require more stringent tests of Trinity’s system.

Harman said he hasn’t begun to ponder the prospect of newfound wealth as he presses his claims against Trinity and pushes for the modified units to be removed from U.S. roads.

“I will not shut up,” he said.

The case is Harman on behalf of the U.S. v. Trinity Industries Inc., 12-cv-00089, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (Marshall).