International Paper Co. has agreed to a payment of $5.2 million as a settlement for a personal injury suit related to the use of a cell phone while driving by one of their employees.

The complaint, filed in 2006, says that Vanessa McGrogan, an employee of International Paper, was using her cell phone, supplied by the company, as she was driving west on Interstate 15 near Dublin, Georgia when she rear-ended the vehicle of Debra Ford. Ford’s vehicle was pushed into the ditch along the right side of the road, causing it to overturn which resulted in the driver’s side hitting and then sliding along the roadway. Ford’s arm was trapped between the door and the asphalt.

Due to medical complications, Ford’s arm was eventually required to be amputated almost up to the shoulder.

According to Katherine McArthur, Ford’s attorney, Georgia has a statute which says that drivers are not to do things that are distracting. She explained that the statute means that reasonable use of a cell phone is acceptable. However, she said that McGrogan’s cell phone use was not acceptable due to her cruise control being set at 77 miles per hour in a 70 mph zone.

McArthur said that the combination of those two factors allowed the issue of intentional negligence to be raised against McGrogan and International Paper in order to seek punitive damages.

McArthur said that there was a “huge impact” on the final settlement about from the use of a cell phone by McGrogan, even though there was never any determination of the timing of the cell phone use.