Joshua Harman, co-founder of guardrail manufacturer SPIG Industry, investigated Trinity Industries’ ET-Plus highway end terminal during a 2011 patent dispute. Harman alleged that Trinity had introduced five undisclosed design changes beginning in 2005, including narrowing the guide channel from five inches to four. He argued that the altered terminal could lock during a crash instead of allowing the guardrail to slide and absorb energy, potentially driving the rail into vehicles. Harman documented more than 40 deaths and 100 injuries that he associated with redesigned terminals, though those incident connections were part of his investigation and allegations rather than a universal official finding.
In 2012, Harman filed a False Claims Act qui tam action alleging that Trinity obtained federal reimbursement eligibility without disclosing the modifications. A federal jury in October 2014 found Trinity liable for $175 million, and in June 2015 the court trebled damages to $663 million; Harman received roughly $199 million plus $19 million in fees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed in October 2017, holding that the omissions were not material because the Federal Highway Administration had continued treating the product as eligible. Separately, the ET-Plus lost federal-aid reimbursement eligibility on December 31, 2017, after failing updated MASH safety criteria, and Trinity later divested its highway-products business in 2021.
