Personal Injury Case Results

Name: Brian C. v. Contra Costa County Health Services    Year: 2014
Case Type: Medical Malpractice
Result: $12,100,000 (with Jury awarding in excess of $100,000,000 in future damages)
Injuries: Birth injury: Mild cerebral palsy and mild brain injury causing cognitive and motor dysfunction
Liability Facts: Plaintiff claimed that the treating doctor was not qualified to manage the High-Risk pregnancy and failed to identify and treat various medical conditions that existed in the pregnancy which lead to one twin dying and the other twin suffering a hypoxic stroke.
Detailed Case Summary: Click here to view link
Rank: Per the Recorder this was ranked # 1 largest medical mal practice verdict in 2014 in California. Per the Daily Journal this was ranked # 3 for top plaintiffs’ verdict by impact in the state of California for 2014.

Name: Armand P. et al v. Stanley C., Merin K., Wisdom Construction Design, Grant L., Parkview Group, Wilson N., Yg Electric and Ampeak Design
Case Type: Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
Result: $1,395,000
Injuries: Ara P. was electrocuted and lost his life. His survivors asserted wrongful death damage claims.
Liability Facts: Plaintiff’s decedent, Ara P. was a contractor performing electrical work in a basement of a building undergoing an electrical upgraded related to the installation of elevators. Reportedly, the electrical input had not been properly grounded, and Ara was electrocuted. The plaintiffs claimed wrongful death and sued the involved parties. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the pressure to get the elevator working quickly, in anticipation of investors who were scheduled to visit the building, caused the building owner to force Ara to perform electrical work, despite the fact that the day before a building inspector had determined that the electrical supply wasn’t properly grounded.

Name: Lisa K. v. General Insurance Company of America
Case Type: Personal Injury.
Result: $2,897,346
Injuries: Cervicogenic headaches, tearing of posterior ligaments surrounding the cervical spine, and chronic neck pain.
Liability Facts: Lisa K. was stopped at a red light when she was rear-ended by a cargo van. The impact pushed her into the car in front of her, during which she sustained neck injuries. Plaintiff received a settlement from the company that owned the cargo van and employed its driver, as well as a settlement from her own insurance agency after plaintiff’s counsel alleged that the cargo truck company had an under-insured policy.
Name: Daryl B., et al v. City and County of San Francisco, Municipal Railway
Case Type: Personal Injury.
Result: $900,000.
Injuries: Traumatic brain injury, closed head injury, coma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, death
Liability Facts: William B., a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist with the Oakland Tribune, was walking across the street when he accidently stepped into the path of a Light Rail Vehicle (LRV). As a result, the LRV struck William and threw him into a light pole, causing his severe injuries and eventual death. Both parties’ experts agreed that even though the deceased had crossed against a red light and a flashing “train coming” signal, the driver of the LRV was going at an unsafe speed and failed to sound his gong, bell or horn at any time prior to the impact with William. It was determined that this failure was a violation of the San Francisco Municipal Railway Rules and Instructions Handbook and contributed to William’s death.
Name: Confidential v. Confidential
Case Type: Personal Injury
Result: $3,350,000
Injuries: Plaintiff’s left ring finger was ripped from her hand, the finger was then later surgically re-attached. Plaintiff lost grip strength in her left hand and experienced constant pain even after her finger was reattached.
Liability Facts: While descending a staircase plaintiff caught her wedding ring on a screw affixing a warning sign. As a result, the plaintiff slipped and fell, suffering a ring avulsion injury which resulted in her finger being ripped from her hand. Plaintiff was beginning her residency in occupational medicine at the time of the incident and expert testimony indicated that because of this injury she could not pursue a medical career entailing any kind of hands-on clinical medicine during her career. Plaintiff sued the company that owned, maintained, and built the staircase.
Name: Joseph K. v. Berkeley Concrete Pumping Co., Dolan Concrete Construction Inc.
Case Type: Personal Injury
Result: $2,056,000
Injuries: Plaintiff injured both knees, and required several surgeries on his right knee, where he had torn his meniscus.
Liability Facts: Plaintiff was working as a plumber on a hotel project. A concrete hose, full of pressurized concrete, broke apart explosively and swung into his knee. Plaintiff’s counsel pointed out that Berkeley and Dolan [Defendants] used worn concrete-encrusted clamps on their equipment, and that the hose sections separated because the defendants failed to secure the clamps with locking pins – as required by the manufacturer of the clamp – to hold the sections of the pressurized hose together. The plaintiff claimed past and future medical expenses and economic loss since experts agreed that he could never return to his job as a commercial plumber.
Name: Cindy C. v. Lauren Hanford
Case Type: Personal Injury
Result: $690,927.37
Injuries: Immediate pain that worsened over time, a disc injury that irritated a nerve root, an aggravation of plaintiff’s pre-existing condition of degenerative disc disease, bulging disc, and nerve impingement.
Liability Facts: Plaintiff was driving a company pickup truck in the scope of her employment as a delivery person when she was rear-ended by the defendant. Plaintiff sued the driver for motor vehicle negligence which resulted in both immediate and worsening pain and injuries. Plaintiff’s doctors opined that the rear-ender caused her asymptomatic, preexisting condition to become symptomatic.

Name: Sean J. v. Harpreet C., et al.
Case Type: Workers Compensation/ Personal Injury
Result: $4,492,000
Injuries: Severe crush injuries to his trachea, cervical spine, and shoulder. Plaintiff also sustained vocal cord paralysis and cervical fractures. He underwent immediate fusion surgery. Plaintiff is left with increasing breathing difficulties and airway obstruction, as well as pain and limitations to his dominant shoulder and hand.
Liability Facts: Plaintiff was working at a car wash when he attempted to stop an oversized pickup truck that had failed to stop at the end of the car wash conveyor belt and had rolled downhill towards waiting customers. He was crushed between the car and a concrete planter, sustaining severe injuries. Plaintiff alleged that the car wash exit was too short for its intended use and it was followed by a downhill slop into the customer waiting area, which was a dangerous condition the owners had failed to inspect, warn or guard against.
Name: L. v. Doe Manufacturer and Does 1 through 20
Case Type: Workers Compensation/ Personal Injury
Result: $4,870,370
Injuries: Severe crush and degloving injuries which led to several surgeries and ultimately a below-the-knee amputation of his right leg.
Liability Facts: Plaintiff was assisting a co-worker in unloading a 10,000 pound forklift from the trailer manufactured by Doe Defendant, and maintained by plaintiff’s employer, the jack stand on the trailer failed. As a result, the trailer collapsed onto the back of the plaintiff’s right ankle. Plaintiff alleged product liability to the designer of the trailer, and claimed negligence on part of his employer for the negligent use of defective equipment. Plaintiff asserted that the equipment had been previously damaged and improperly inspected, leading to the incident.
Name: Colleen C. and William C. v. The Estate of Sharon S., Ralford S.; Lau Yuen K. d/b/a International Moving Company and Yamato Transport USA, Inc.
Case Type: Personal Injury
Result: $25,750,666
Injuries: Degloving crush injury to her right dominant arm, which caused it to be nearly severed. In addition the upper extremity of her right arm was skeletonized by the removal of her skin and subcutaneous tissue. The plaintiff also sustained numerous fractures in her arm, as well as severed nerves and tendons.
Liability Facts: The plaintiff was assisting the defendant back her SUV out of a partially blocked driveway by standing behind the vehicle and directing her. Suddenly, the SUV accelerated and crushed the plaintiff’s arm against the truck that was blocking the driveway. Plaintiff sued the defendant for negligent operation of the SUV as well as the moving truck company that owned the truck blocking the driveway and the company that had hired the truck to ship its products at the time of the incident.
Name: John Doe v. SMG Moscone Center, McMaster-Carr Supply Co., and Manco Mfg. Co.
Case Type: Workers Compensation/ Personal Injury
Result: $ 2,200,000
Injuries: Plaintiff sustained lifelong spine injuries, including a bulging disc and permanent nerve pain.
Liability Facts: Plaintiff was a Teamster truck driver who worked for Greyhound Expo Services delivering and unloading materials for tradeshows at Moscone Center, operated by SMG. While returning to his truck, the plaintiff descended a Manco Loading Dock Ladder that suddenly broke as the plaintiff was descending it. He fell backwards on the concrete floor onto his neck and back. Plaintiff claimed he sustained permanent spinal injuries with nerve pain and that he will need lifelong pain management. Experts opined that the plaintiff will never be able to return to his former work as a truck driver. Plaintiff sued his employer, SMG. Plaintiff alleged that SMG knew the ladder had been subject to repeated damage by trucks, but SMG did not maintain any regular scheduled inspections for the ladder.

Name: Terrence B. v. Nibbi Brothers General Contractors; St. Anthony Foundation; Hkit Architects; and Does 1-50
Case Type: Construction Accident, Personal Injury
Result: $ 950,000
Injuries: Plaintiff sustained spinal injury, leg/foot injury, and neck/back injury.
Liability Facts: On August 19, 2013 Plaintiff Terrence B. was moving a 600 pound vertical stack of plywood at a construction worksite when the stack suddenly toppled over him, throwing him to the concrete floor. For 30 minutes, the Plaintiff was pinned under the stack, briefly losing consciousness while his right foot was being crushed. Cal/OSHA performed an investigation following the incident and cited the subcontractor, CONCO, for violating rules regarding unsafe vertical stacks of plywood, as well as the general contractor, Defendant Nibbi Brothers, for a housekeeping violation.

Name: K. S. v. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), et al.
Case Type: Wrongful Death
Result: $3,100,000
Injuries: Plaintiff sustained spinal injury, leg/foot injury, and neck/back injury.
Liability Facts: On January 21, 2014, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Detective Sergeant S. and a group of BART detectives and officers took part in a probation search of a residence located in the City of Dublin, California. Detective S. led this search as part of an investigation of a suspect who committed multiple armed robberies and burglaries on BART-owned property.

After the entry team performed a “knock notice”, they determined the door was unlocked and verbally announced a probation search was underway. Detective S. was the first to enter the residence, leading the search team. Upon entering, Detective S. traveled left whereas Defendant Detective Maes, the second to enter, continued forward. As the detective unit was clearing rooms of the residence, there was no verbal communication with Detective S. and the other officers were unaware of his location.

Defendant Maes stopped and positioned himself in front of the threshold of a bedroom doorway, where he claimed to have observed a shadowy figure with a raised gun emerge from the closet. With no verbal order or warning, Defendant Maes fired a single round from his gun. This shadowy figure that Defendant Maes shot and killed was actually Detective S.

Plaintiff K.S. alleged that BART not only failed to provide proper training on building and probation searches for her husband, Detective S., and other BART detectives, but that it had repeatedly denied her husband’s requests for training his detective unit. Plaintiff further alleged that Defendant Maes’ shooting of Detective S. was excessive and unreasonable use of deadly force. Further, based on forensic evidence, Defendant S.’s gun was not pointed at Detective Maes. Defendants contended that Detective S. and the other BART PD personnel did have the necessary training and that Detective S. voluntarily took command of the search without gaining voluntary compliance from a resident.

Name: Gregory D. v. Superior Steel Products, Inc., Harrington Industrial Plastics, LLC, DOE Installer and DOE Manufacturer
Case Type: Products Liability, Product Failure, Personal Injury
Result: $3,134,599
Injuries: Plaintiff sustained spinal injury, leg/foot injury, and neck/back injury.
Liability Facts: In 2011, the West County Wastewater District (WCWD) contracted with Defendants Superior Steel Products, Inc. and DOE Installer to purchase, design, assemble, and install two new vertical storage tanks for WCWD’s Richmond plant. Defendant Harrington Industrial Plastics, LLC was additionally contracted in the development of fabrication, for the purpose of obtaining component parts for the tanks. Said tanks, which required several specially manufactured components in their construction, were specifically designed to hold concentrated sodium hypochlorite — a highly corrosive and hazardous liquid chemical.

On May 18, 2013, Plaintiff Denton’s work assignment involved attaching a bypass line to one of the storage tanks, in order to drain the reserved sodium hypochlorite for a piping modification to take place. Synchronous with completion of his task, a specially manufactured male PVC adapter, with all attached component parts, failed and consequently sheared off of the storage vat. Sodium hypochlorite immediately sprayed from the broken component, exposing Plaintiff D. to the chemical and thereby causing 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his arms, legs, and groin area. WCWD provided Workers’ Compensation benefits to Plaintiff and asserted a lien of $1,099,599.06.

It was found that the modifications made to the specialty PVC adapter, which involved thinning the piece by 50% and removing approximately one half-inch of threads used to secure it in place, created a substantial product vulnerability. Said weakened component of the adapter, combined with a reasonable scenario in which the piece could be over-tightened, causing additional stress, caused the product to completely fail, giving way to the incident which occurred.

Plaintiff and other Defendants also alleged that the DOE Installer failed to properly install the PVC adapter per manufacturer instructions, causing even more stress in the already vulnerable product. Defendants further alleged that the Plaintiff failed to don proper Personal Protective Equipment, used incorrect tools while installing the bypass line, and employer negligence, stating that WCWD was responsible for the ultimate design of the tanks.