Snapchat settles Georgia couple’s crash lawsuit on eve of trial

On the eve of trial, social media giant Snapchat has settled a Georgia couple’s lawsuit alleging it is liable for a serious injury crash caused by a teenage driver who was recording on the app’s since-discontinued speed filter that she was going more than 100 mph.

Wentworth Maynard was left with permanent brain damage in 2015 when his SUV was rear-ended on Tara Boulevard in Clayton County by Christal McGee, who was 19 at the time and traveling in a Mercedes-Benz at around 107 mph, court records show.

Maynard and his wife, Karen, sued Snapchat and McGee in 2016, alleging in part that the company is liable for making a feature that motivated drivers to be reckless, with sometimes fatal consequences.

The case went all the way up to the Georgia Supreme Court and back to Spalding County, where a trial was scheduled to start Nov. 2. The parties informed the trial court this week they had settled instead.

“The parties’ dispute was resolved in an amicable manner, pursuant to a confidential agreement, and no party admitted any liability,” Snapchat told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement.

Michael Neff, an attorney for the Maynards, said they feel their grievance has been heard, though the case did not reach a jury trial. He noted that trial and appellate judges had found merit in the couple’s claims.

“Wentworth Maynard suffered permanent brain damage that affects him and his family every day and will for the remainder of his life,” Neff told the AJC in a statement. “I believe the Maynards’ courage in bringing this suit and staying the course over ten years has helped shape the legal and social landscape as it relates to social media.”

Lawyers for McGee, who changed her surname to Leatherwood after the crash, did not respond to questions about the settlement. It resolved all claims as well as a $100,000 fine imposed on McGee for failing to hand over her phone to the plaintiffs, the parties told the court in their settlement notice.

Snapchat had lost many of its arguments leading up to trial.

In August, Spalding County State Court Judge Josh Thacker denied Snapchat’s request that the case be thrown out. The social media platform had argued the law was on its side, but Thacker ruled a jury should hear the case.

Snapchat also had lost an earlier bid to dismiss the case. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the company had to face the Maynards’ claims. It held that a manufacturer has a duty in Georgia to use reasonable care when designing products, to reduce reasonably foreseeable risks of harm.

And in 2024, Thacker rejected Snapchat’s attempt to shield its CEO, Evan Spiegel, from testifying.

Neff said he has heard from lawyers around the country that the Maynards’ case has impacted social media litigation nationwide. He said one important development was the recognition that social media companies are not automatically immune from claims concerning their product design decisions.

The Maynards alleged that McGee told her three passengers right before the crash that she was trying to hit 100 mph, to post it on Snapchat. The speed filter captured how fast someone was moving and allowed users to share that information with their followers.

One of the passengers told reporters in 2016 she asked McGee to slow down after seeing through McGee’s phone that they were traveling as fast as 113 mph.

Thacker noted in a 2025 order that McGee used Snapchat after the crash to post a photo of herself and the words “lucky to be alive.” He said the three passengers had confirmed McGee was driving over 100 mph and using her phone, contradicting her version of events.

McGee entered a “no contest” guilty plea in 2018 to a criminal charge of serious injury by vehicle, court records show.