[Polk County, Iowa (KCCI)] — A man injured in a nearly-deadly construction accident in Polk City in 2019 was awarded just over $3-million in damages after winning his jury trial. According to his attorney, Tim Kono was working on a home and was underground for a large part of the job he was doing for home construction company D.R. Horton.

He got trapped underneath several tons of soil — largely because he says D.R. Horton wasn’t using an OSHA-mandated trench box during the job. A fact sheet issued by OSHA, says that can equal the weight of a car.

In addition to the $3-million award, Kono will receive one-fourth of $16.18 million in punitive damages against his former company for what happened. By Iowa code, the remaining 75% of the punitive damage amount will go toward a civil reparations trust fund.

Kono’s lawyer said it’s the second-greatest dollar amount of punitive damage she’s ever seen in an Iowa case.