The $125 million lawsuit filed against The Weather Channel by the mother of a storm chaser who perished outside Spur in 2017 has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, according to the law firm representing the plaintiff.
On April 26, 2021, the suit brought by Karen Di Piazza, mother of the deceased Corbin Jaeger, 25, was administratively closed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Parties had been scheduled for a May 3, 2021 trial date but the trial setting was vacated after settlement terms were reached during mediation.
On March 28, 2017, a two-vehicle crash west of Spur (approximately 70 miles east of Lubbock) resulted in the deaths of three storm chasers after the Chevrolet Suburban driven by Randall Yarnall, 55, and occupied by Kelley Williamson, 57, both storm chasers from Cassville, Missouri, working for the Weather Channel, disregarded a stop sign at highway speed and struck the Jeep Patriot of Corbin Lee Jaeger of Peoria, Arizona. All three men died instantly.
In March 2019 Jaeger’s mother, Karen Di Piazza of Arizona, filed a $125 million negligence and wrongful death suit in Texas against 17 defendants, including the parent company of the Weather Channel television broadcast. Three defendants remained party to the suit following the court’s action on summary judgment in March 2021.
After the Texas court denied Di Piazza’s request that laws of her home state of Arizona apply with regard to financial relief, the case was sent to trial. According to the law offices of Robert A. Ball for the plaintiff, a settlement was reached in May and parties were given 60 days to handle details and file dismissal papers.
KCBD-TV (Lubbock) further reported this week that on Wednesday, June 2, a motion to dismiss was filed by the mother, saying she had resolved all claims against The Weather Channel.
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