Texas school bus crash: Injured Hays CISD teacher sues company that employed truck driver

Texas school bus crash: $1 million lawsuit

A preschool teacher who was in the school bus crash that killed a preschooler and a UT grad student has filed a $1 million lawsuit.

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas - A teacher who was injured in the deadly school bus crash that killed a 5-year-old and a UT graduate student is suing the company that employed Jerry Hernandez, the driver of the concrete truck that caused the crash.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Bastrop County, preschool teacher Deborah Serna and her husband Rex Serna are suing FJM Concrete, as well as its owner Francisco Xavier Martinez Jr. and the driver, Jerry Hernandez, for damages amounting to over $1 million.

The lawsuit says "defendant Jerry Hernandez turned a fun field trip for pre-k students into a life-taking, life-shattering explosion of terror and mayhem when he smashed his truck into a bus full of innocent, unsuspecting people."

The lawsuit says Deborah Serna, who was on the school bus when it crashed, was severely injured in the crash with at least four broken bones in her back and multiple other serious injuries. The lawsuit says she will not be able to return to teaching preschoolers while she recovers from her injuries.

Truck driver was not allowed to drive

The concrete truck driver involved in a deadly school bus crash was not allowed to drive a commercial vehicle at the time of the incident in Bastrop County, according to the federal government.

The lawsuit claims Hernandez was negligent when he drove into the school bus, including failing to keep a proper look out for traffic, failure to control his speed and driving recklessly, among other causes of action, calling it "a textbook example of evil, depraved, gross negligence" on the part of Hernandez, the company who hired him and the insurance company.

Hernandez was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide after the crash.

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The suit also claims the concrete company was negligent in hiring, training, supervising and retaining Hernandez as an employee with a history of using controlled substances while being employed as a driver.

Hernandez's history includes multiple positive drug tests since 2022, and a refusal to take a drug test in 2020 after admitting to using illegal drugs.

Serna's damages listed in the lawsuit include medical expenses to treat her injuries sustained in the crash, loss of earnings due to not being able to work, and her husband's loss of comfort and emotional support due to his wife's injuries.