PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-2368

ANTHONY GORDON MATHIS

Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

TERRA RENEWAL SERVICES, INC.; DARLING INGREDIENTS, INC.

Defendants - Appellees

LJC ENVIRONMENTAL, LLC

Third Party Defendant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., District Judge. (3:19-cv-00180-RJC-DSC)

Argued: May 4, 2023 Decided: June 5, 2023

Before WILKINSON, HARRIS, and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Harris and Judge Richardson joined.

ARGUED: Peter Harrington Burke, CR LEGAL TEAM, LLP, Birmingham, Alabama; David J. Ventura, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Robert J. King III, BROOKS, PIERCE, MCLENDON, HUMPHREY & LEONARD, LLP, Greensboro, North Carolina; USCA4 Appeal: 21-2368 Doc: 51 Filed: 06/05/2023 Pg: 2 of 20

Jeffrey Brandt Kuykendal, MCANGUS, GOUDELOCK & COURIE, LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Karonnie R. Truzy, CRUMLEY ROBERTS, LLP, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. John W. Ormand III, Daniel F.E. Smith, Matthew B. Tynan, Amanda S. Hawkins, BROOKS, PIERCE, MCLENDON, HUMPHREY & LEONARD, LLP, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellees.

2 USCA4 Appeal: 21-2368 Doc: 51 Filed: 06/05/2023 Pg: 3 of 20

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

Anthony Gordon Mathis sued Terra Renewal Services, Inc. and its parent company

Darling Ingredients, Inc. after an accident atop a pressurized tanker left him a paraplegic.

He alleged that their negligence led to the accident that injured him. The case went to trial,

where the jury found that, though Terra and Darling were negligent, Mathis was

contributorily negligent, thus barring his recovery. Mathis appeals, alleging that the district

court committed several reversible errors. His main contention is that the district court

erroneously rejected his “sudden emergency” contention and his claim for gross negligence

as a matter of law. We are unpersuaded, and thus affirm the jury’s verdict.

I.

A.

Mathis worked as a truck driver for LJC Environmental, LLC (LJC). LJC executed

a subcontract in May 2015 with Terra Renewal Services, Inc. (Terra) and its parent

company Darling Ingredients, Inc. (Darling) for the transportation of industrial residuals,

referred to as “sludge.” The sludge was non-hazardous liquid waste generated by food

production to be later used as fertilizer.

The subcontract provided that LJC would transport industrial residuals to and from

Terra’s customer locations while Terra would provide specific equipment for that work.

Such equipment included vacuum pressurized tanker-trailers. The subcontract required that

any equipment Terra supplied be “in good condition and in good working order.”

J.A. 1758. LJC was responsible for identifying needed repairs or maintenance work and

bringing the trailers to a location where such work could be performed. Any maintenance

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requested on the tankers had to be specifically approved by Terra, including in

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