Tonya Musskopf said she is “disgusted” by the settlement reached by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, which oversees the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), in the wrongful death lawsuit of her pregnant daughter and another MoDOT employee.
In an order and judgment dated Sept. 6, all parties agreed that MoDOT would pay $505,020 to Musskopf, Austin Jarvis and Cagle LLC to avoid a jury trial in the lawsuit filed after Kaitlyn Anderson of De Soto and James W. Brooks of St. Louis were killed in an accident in November 2021, court records show.
Anderson, who was 25, was six-months pregnant with Jaxx Jarvis when she died. Musskopf, Anderson’s mother, and Jarvis, Jaxx’s father, filed the wrongful death lawsuit in May 2022.
Brooks was 58 when he died, and another MoDOT worker, Mike S. Brown of House Springs, was injured in the accident at Telegraph Road and westbound I-255 in south St. Louis County, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.
“It’s disgusting that the government puts a dollar amount on human life,” said Musskopf, who lives in Florida. “I think it is disgusting that if you are an employee and you get killed, your employer gets immunity. It tugs at the heartstrings to know they were able to kill Kaitlyn and Jaxx and not have to pay for Kaitlyn because she worked for the government.
“It is a hard pill to swallow. The politicians make the rules, and they determined the value of an employee.”
In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, June 4, the Supreme Court granted immunity to supervisors Michael Love and Gary Ludwick, intersection crew leader Kristina Jordan and assistant supervisor James Henson. Stanley MacFadden of Hillsboro, who was driving the car that hit the workers and who died in March 2023, also had been named in the lawsuit.
In the wrongful death lawsuit, Musskopf and Jarvis claimed the MoDOT supervisors did not follow the “mandatory, nondiscretionary rules, policies and procedures” to have a protective vehicle parked in front of the workspace. The lawsuit also said supervisors didn’t provide ongoing training or a safety plan and ignored Anderson’s request to be placed in a safer role while she was pregnant.
In March, attorneys for the state said the deaths were the result of a workplace accident. MoDOT attorneys also argued in court that Anderson's unborn child was an employee, which would entail a worker's compensation case rather than a wrongful death lawsuit.
“I wish there was somebody else I could fight for Kaitlyn,” Musskopf said of the end of the lawsuit. “I feel something unjust happened to her. If there was one more court, one more judge or one more lawyer I could fight, I would take them on in a heartbeat to fight for Kaitlyn and Jaxx.”
Musskopf said she will continue to go to Jefferson City to try and persuade legislatures to change laws to create stricter penalties for drivers who hit workers and first responders on the road and to create better regulations to protect employees.
“They haven’t seen the last of me,” she said.
Musskopf said she will continue to focus on the work being done by the Kait’s Love for Jaxx Foundation, which Anderson’s family started.
The foundation provides pregnancy medical alert bracelets to women, free grief coaching for those in need, grief bags for those who have recently lost a child and a sack of items to families who recently welcomed a child after the mother lost a previous pregnancy.
The organization has held a Slow Down Move Over Walk in Arnold City Park for the last four years to raise money.
The foundation will hold a gala from 7-11 p.m. Nov. 9 at Andre’s South, 4254 Telegraph Road, in south St. Louis County. Admission to the event costs $60 and tickets must be purchased by Nov. 1 through kaitsloveforjaxx.org.
Michael B. Whit, who sang the national anthem for the St. Louis Cardinals home opener this season, will perform during the gala, Musskopf said.
“We support the St. Louis community by giving free grief counseling to families who lose a child,” she said of the foundation. “We give scholarships to Jefferson County high school students who have lost a parent. We do events to teach the public about the importance of safe driving, and we give Christmas dinners and toys to families who have lost a child or spouse. Most importantly, we give medical alert bracelets to mothers who are pregnant.
“Without the St. Louis areas support, we will not be able to do these things.”