A federal jury's $15.8 million verdict against Topgolf over a child's traumatic brain injury at its Hillsboro location is now being cited nationally as a warning to businesses that skimp on safety protocols and documentation.

The verdict, handed down Sept. 4, 2025, in U.S. District Court in Portland, stemmed from a Nov. 11, 2021, incident at the Topgolf facility at 5505 NE Huffman St. A 9-year-old boy, Henry Thomsen, was struck in the head by a golf club swung by another boy in an adjacent bay during a birthday party. He suffered an open skull fracture, cerebral hemorrhage and traumatic brain injury requiring emergency neurosurgery and three titanium plates in his skull, according to the Portland Tribune.

The eight-member jury found Topgolf 97% negligent and awarded $12.5 million for pain and suffering plus $3.3 million in economic damages, The Oregonian reported. The parents of the boy who hosted the party were assigned 3% fault.

Safety warnings went unheeded

Central to the case: Topgolf staff failed to deliver the required "bay host" safety briefing before guests began playing. That briefing instructs guests to stay behind a painted red line separating the seating area from the swing zone.

The line was the only barrier. No railing, no partition, no physical guard.

Topgolf's own risk consultant, Ken Bolton, had flagged "struck-by accidents" as a known hazard at the company's locations for at least a decade. As early as 2013, Bolton recommended the company either station a person to guard the red lines or install a physical barrier. Topgolf did neither, according to trial testimony reported by The Oregonian.

An analysis presented at trial showed guests at just two Topgolf locations, Hillsboro and Roseville, California, were injured by golf club strikes 27 times between 2019 and 2021. Most injuries were to the head or face and involved children.

"This was not a surprise. This was not a rare incident," plaintiff's attorney Anne Devlan Foster of Smith Foster King LLP told jurors during closing arguments on Sept. 4, 2025. "Topgolf knew it happened before and they knew it was going to happen again."

What it means for Hillsboro businesses

An Insurance Journal feature published Monday, Aug. 17, holds up the Topgolf Hillsboro case as a textbook example of how premises liability is driving "nuclear verdicts," defined as jury awards exceeding $10 million. The median cost of such awards rose from $20 million to $27 million between 2015 and 2020, according to Advisen's loss database.

The article, written by commercial lines account manager Roberta Mercado of All Solutions Insurance Agency, identifies three failure categories that inflate verdicts: routine maintenance gaps without documentation, unclear internal procedures for accident reporting, and delayed claims reporting, even by hours.

Mercado urged insurance agents to ensure their business clients carry commercial general liability coverage "with limits that reflect today's verdict environment, not limits that may have been adequate 10 years ago," adding that umbrella or excess liability policies are "no longer optional."

What's next

The jury was scheduled to consider punitive damages the day after the Sept. 4 verdict, but attorneys for both sides reached a confidential settlement before that phase began. Topgolf did not respond to media requests for comment at the time of the verdict. The Hillsboro facility, with more than 100 bays across three floors, remains open.

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce, which serves Hillsboro-area businesses, is searching for a new president and CEO, leaving no sitting chamber leader available for comment on the verdict's local implications.