This is the second of a two-part story. To read Part 1, click here.
“Please make sure my family is taken care of. Please make sure our children are taken care of after all they went through.” That was the grieving father’s mission for Ben Whitman and Don Fountain of Clark, Fountain, Littky-Rubin & Whitman and Rick Millian of Retamar & Millian, P.A. The family had lost their wife and mother to a gas station inferno. They were still reeling and yearning for justice.
In the months that followed the horrific accident at the Circle K gas station, 19 of the 20 Defendants settled. Only Circle K itself — the Defendant with the greatest liability share — continued to deny all responsibility. Ben, Don, and Rick developed a strategy to turn up the heat. They focused their approach on demonstrating:
A global corporation, Circle K had teams of lawyers, powerful insurance companies, and virtually unlimited resources at their disposal. So, in December 2023, Ben reached out to DK Global. He and his colleagues had to make their complex case simple for a jury. DK Global partnered with Ben, Don, and Rick to create a reconstruction video and animation that explained, step by step, what happened the day of the fire. DK Global integrated nearly 70 hours of video footage from the scene and thousands of pages of case materials for the presentation. Combining 3D animation, surveillance and body camera footage, and document excerpts, the video sought to illustrate how the tragedy unfolded, pinpoint what went wrong, and explain how events would have unfolded differently had Circle K’s equipment been set up and functioning correctly.
The presentation began by setting the scene, showing the Circle K location on a map, its ownership and maintenance history, and the position of the fuel dispensers that caught fire. It clarified that fuel dispenser vehicle impacts are known, foreseeable incidents in the retail fuel industry, followed by the industry-recognized safety measures gas stations need to take to prevent them — bollards, shear valves, e-stop buttons, and fire suppression systems — then explaining how the Circle K location failed to utilize all of them properly from design through equipment performance.
Next, the video transitioned to a 3D reconstruction of the mother at the fuel pump, her SUV in the background with her two children in the back seat. The presentation cut to surveillance footage showing the black convertible pulling into the gas station lot, searching for an available pump. Using surveillance footage and 3D animation, the presentation demonstrated how the convertible burst backward and crashed into the gas pump on the opposite side of the mother, knocking the dispenser into her and trapping her against her SUV. Fire broke out immediately after impact.
The video then showed the Circle K attendant through the convenience store CCTV and 3D animation. Upon seeing the flames, she raced behind the cash register to push the e-stop button. The presentation showed how the e-stop buttons for the fuel pump and car wash looked nearly identical. Under the acute stress of the moment, the attendant pushed the wrong e-stop button or the button she pressed did not work. The failure to press the wrong e-stop button, or it not working, combined with the shear valves failing to seal, caused fuel to continue spraying onto the fire.
The gas station attendant then called 9-1-1 moments before the eldest of the two children ran to the door screaming for help. She grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran outside, joining the younger of the two children who was already spraying the flames with another extinguisher. Eyewitness video accompanied the surveillance footage and 3D animation to show the incident from another angle. The two children and the gas station could see the mother’s face as she tried futilely to push the pump off her.
The fire grew, and the children and gas station attendant were forced to abandon their efforts and flee to a safer location.
The presentation continued to document the flames, along with five violent explosions. More than four minutes after the fire ignited, a Sheriff’s deputy arrived. Dashcam and bodycam footage showed him hit a second outside e-stop button on the opposite side of the convenience store. While it succeeded in shutting off the fuel pumps, the SUV continued to burn. Shortly after, fire trucks arrived. It took over eight minutes from when the flames began to put them out.
As the video played, it showed bodycam footage of other family arriving — a son-in-law, followed by an adult daughter, followed by the decedent’s husband — and their heart-wrenching attempts to console the two children who had watched their mother burn to death.
The final portion of the video showed alternate scenarios. First, it explained how the entire incident could have been prevented by installing a bollard next to the pump. It revealed that other Circle K gas stations nearby had bollards installed properly to protect from vehicle impacts on both sides, illuminating how this particular location failed to meet the company’s own safety protocols. Next, it showed how the e-stop buttons failed to meet compliance standards and that the set of buttons inside the convenience store violated Florida law. It also exposed how the Circle K location never performed mandatory annual e-stop safety tests. Last, the video clarified how the shear valves failed to seal because of improper installation and maintenance, allowing fuel to feed the fire.
As the presentation concluded, it noted that The Court ruled in this case that Circle K was responsible for the destruction of the lower half of the three shear valves that had burned, along with the connective nuts, bolts, and washers, the two hoses, nozzles, and breakaways — all key physical evidence.
To take things a step further, Ben, Don, and Rick also hired DK Global to assist in finalizing an opening statement PowerPoint presentation using clips from the video so they’d be ready to go to trial.
Even with the presentations, Circle K remained unmoved. Before trial, the parties were required to participate in nonbinding arbitration. The Defense mounted a lengthy case. By contrast, Ben, Don, and Rick played the presentation, along with a short closing statement. The three-arbitrator panel returned a massive award for the Plaintiffs. The Defendants refused to accept the finding.
At a pre-trial hearing, the Defense attempted to convince the judge that the two children who watched their mother die had no damages claims under their interpretation of the Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress rules. The judge denied the motions. With no other ways to delay trial and mere days before jury selection, the Defense approached Ben, Don, and Rick to discuss settlement. After years of denying all responsibility, they offered an amount that would take care of the mother’s family. Ben, Don, and Rick had succeeded in their mission to advocate for the traumatized, heartbroken family.
Ben Whitman is a partner at Clark, Fountain, Littky-Rubin & Whitman, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He focuses on catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases caused by defective products, commercial trucking accidents, and other complex liability situations. Ben has handled automotive product defect cases against nearly every major automobile manufacturer worldwide.
Rick Millian, a partner at Retamar & Millian, P.A., works alongside his brother Marc helping clients recover compensation for injuries due to negligence. They have offices in Deerfield Beach and Palm Harbor, Florida.
Don Fountain is a trial lawyer and founding partner at Clark, Fountain, Littky-Rubin & Whitman. He is a nationally recognized top trial attorney specializing in representing clients with catastrophic injuries. He has over 35 years of experience as a double board-certified civil trial lawyer by both state and national boards.
