CALIFORNIA CASES

Mall Shooting

Settlement: $3,500,000

Plaintiff alleged that defendant's security officers acted negligently in failing to intervene to prevent a fight and in failing to call 911 to report the fight before it escalated into a shooting (Binger v. Omninet Capital L.L.C., Fresno County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorney:  Richard C. Watters).

Whistleblower Firing

Verdict: $299,000

Plaintiff, a registered nurse, claimed that defendant hospice and defendant home health agency, owned by the same family, fired her in retaliation for whistleblowing (Manuel v. Heart to Heart Care Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorney:  John S. Hinman).

Quadriplegia

Verdict: $7,978,185

Plaintiff claimed he suffered trigeminal neuralgia and was rendered quadriplegic after suffering an allergic reaction from bilateral C1-C2 joint injections and bilateral C2 selective nerve root blocks performed by defendants (Markow v. Rosner, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorneys:  Arnold E. Goldstein/Howard A. Kapp).

Pizza Delivery Death

Settlement: $2,025,000

Plaintiffs, decedent's parents, alleged a Domino's driver made an unsafe turning movement and may have been on his cell phone prior to colliding with decedent's motorcycle (De La Cruz v. Domino's Pizza, Orange County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorney:  Otto L. Haselhoff).

Broken Leg

Verdict: Defense

During a retirement home casino trip in which the first bus broke down, an elderly passenger broke her leg while climbing the stairs on the replacement bus (Trejo v. Odyssey Coach Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Defense Attorney:  Robert Risbrough).

Bluetooth Defect Claimed

Verdict: Defense

Plaintiff claimed that the Bluetooth connection in his Toyota Prius was defective (McKinzie v. Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Defense Attorney:  Sean D. Beatty).

Ousted Partner

Verdict: $2,316,000

Plaintiff claimed he and defendant formed an oral partnership to sell iPad equipment and that defendant did not share the profits of that partnership (Cherun v. Makowsky, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorneys:  Louis R. Miller).

Caregiver Sued

Verdict: Defense

Plaintiffs claimed that the caregiver of their mentally ill adult daughter failed to prevent her fatal overdose (Cooper v. Extraordinary Home Care Inc., Orange County Superior Court, Defense Attorney:  Jane N. Tran).

Golf Ball Nuisance

Verdict: $105,000

Plaintiffs allegedly suffered emotional distress when golf balls from hole #7 of defendant's golf course, located directly across the street from their home, struck their residence on a continuing basis as a persistent nuisance for more than 12 years (Goldsworthy v. Woodland Hills Country Club, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorney:  Michael B. McCollum).

Tetriplegia

Settlement: $20,000,000

A woman was left tetraplegic following vehicle's fall from bridge; bridge allegedly had an inadequate and below-standard railing instead of a guardrail (Pimentel-Avalos v. City of Long Beach, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorney:  Stanley K. Jacobs).

Alzheimer Driver

Settlement: $305,000

Through discovery it was determined that defendant driver had Alzheimer's disease and should not have been allowed to drive; defendants admitted liability but disputed damages (Stewart v. Sonic Healthcare, Kern County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorney:  David Cohn).

NATIONAL CASES

Brain Damage

Verdict: $32,500,000

The vehicle in which plaintiff was a passenger hit an icy patch but instead of sliding safely into the grassy highway median, it struck a semi-truck and trailer that had jackknifed an hour earlier, slid into the same median, and turned off its lights instead of turning on warning flashers during a snow storm (Guardianship of Kristen Zak v. J.B. Hunt Transp.; Brown; Robinson Indiana – Lake County Superior Court, Plaintiff Attorneys:  Todd S. Schafer/Timothy S. Schafer II/ Gregory W. Brown).

Double Fatality

Verdict: $46,532,600

Two adult females were fatally shot by a co-worker who returned to work with a handgun immediately after workplace security had escorted that co-worker off the premises for yelling obscenities (Wilson/Brown v. U.S. Security Associates, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, Plaintiff Attorney:  Shanin Specter/Dominic C. Guerrini/Patrick J. Fitzgerald).

Editor’s Note: California Bar Journal publishes this abbreviated summary of important trials provided by Trials Digest. To report your case results, go to west.thomson.com/trialsdigest/form.aspx or call 415-344-3952.