Late Tuesday evening, country music superstar Garth Brooks was awarded $1 million in a lawsuit against an Oklahoma hospital. Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon, Oklahoma failed to build a women's health center in honor of Garth Brooks' late mother.
Jurors ruled that the hospital must return Garth Brooks' $500,000 in addition to $500,000 in punitive damages. Brooks indicated that he had reached a deal in 2005 with the hospital president, James Moore, for the donation to go towards a women's center. However, Garth sued after learning that the hospital was not building the women's center and wanted to use the money for other construction projects.
According to the Tulsa World, during the trial, Garth testified that he thought there was a solid agreement with James Moore. He said that Moore suggested putting Garth Brooks' mother's name on an intensive care unit. When Brooks said that it wouldn't fit her image, Moore suggested a women's center.
“I jumped all over it,” Brooks told jurors in tearful testimony. “It’s my mom. My mom was pregnant as a teenager. She had a rough start. She wanted to help every kid out there.”
In the end, the jurors sided with Garth Brooks in the settlement. Jury member Beverly Lacy said she voted in favor of Brooks because she thought the hospital went back on its word. As far as the punitive damages, she said: “We wanted to show them not to do that anymore to anyone else.”
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