RV fire
Settlement: $3,000,000
Wife died, husband badly burned in RV fire caused by defects in the electrical system of the RV park (Alfaro v. Wooden Shoe Visalia LLC, Tulare County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Richard C. Watters).
Rear-ender
Verdict: $6,158,084
Thirty-one-year-old man eventually diagnosed with chronic regional pain syndrome/reflex sympathetic dystrophy following rear-ending of his minivan (McDonald v. Biggs, Kern County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Stephen K. McElroy).
FEHA violations
Verdict: $2,611,197
LAPD officer sued the city for retaliatory actions, termination after he made sexual harassment claim (Joaquin v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Jeffrey A. Lipow).
Vacation policy
Decision: $8,300,000
Company violated California Labor Code by requiring employees to use all vacation days by the end of the year or forfeit their remaining days (Molina v. Lexmark International Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Sheila Thomas).
Wrong drug
Verdict: $3,189,000
Fifty-five-year-old patient sustained severe brain damage as result of incorrectly written prescription that resulted in him receiving a massive dose of morphine instead of Demerol (Lefforge v. Covenant Care of California LLC, Orange County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Kimberly Valentine).
Fall from ladder
Arbitration: $815,108
Man without training or safety equipment was injured when he fell from a ladder while attempting to trim trees as a favor to his sister on her property (Sung v. Edholm, San Mateo County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: B. Robert Allard).
Wrong-way collision
Settlement: $1,100,000
Driver and two passengers were injured when a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction on a highway hit them head-on (Behn v. Estate of Albert Carl Miller, Sacramento County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Christopher R. Aitken).
Excessive force
Verdict: $1,732,452
Fox camerawoman claimed LAPD officers used excessive force against her while she was filming officers attacking innocent persons at a First Amendment rally (Ballaz v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Robert D. Jarchi).
Bus v. pedestrian
Verdict: $7,000,000
Pedestrian was struck in a crosswalk by a bus making a left turn as he attempted to cross the street (Bae v. First Transit Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Richard Y. Chiu).
Drawbridge
Verdict: $844,002
Woman who stopped her vehicle beyond the open gate of a drawbridge in the process of being lowered sustained severe back injuries as a result of her car being crushed by the drawbridge counterweight (Raymond v. County of Sacramento, Sacramento County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Joseph J. Babich).
Paraplegia
Settlement: $10,000,000
Twenty-six-year-old off-duty sheriff's deputy was rendered paraplegic after his motorcycle collided with a disabled vehicle belonging to an underage drunk driver (Confidential v. Confidential, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Gregory R. Vanni).
Editor's Note: California Bar Journal publishes this abbreviated summary of important trials in California provided by Trials Digest. To report your case results, go to west.thomson.com/trialsdigest/form.aspx or call 415-344-3952.