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Home Page Official Publication of the State Bar of California April2009
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Dangerous road
Award: $9,000,000
Forklift operator injured when his vehicle left the road and plunged down a steep drop-off at a highway’s center median area alleged the road’s hazardous condition led to his accident (Weidenaar v. California Dept. of Transportation, San Bernardino County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Bruce A. Broillet).

Water main break
Award: $9,535,000
Broken water mains in the City of Glendale, with resulting landslides, flooding and mold growth, caused extensive damage to several homes (Fullerton v. City of Glendale, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: David B. Casselman).

Defective seatbelts
Award: Defense
Consumer protection case brought against seatbelt manufacturer alleged that seatbelts installed in more than 30 vehicle models were not properly tested and could fail in a crash (Zavala v. Takata Corp., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Defense attorney: David R. Kelley).

Wrongful termination
Award: Defense
Employee claimed that discrimination was the motive for her termination, rather than restructuring, as the company claimed (Schaefer v. American Medical Response, San Bernardino County Superior Court, Defense attorney: Yuk K. Law).

Toxic exposure
Award: Defense
Exposure over 17 years to various petroleum hydrocarbon solvents from leaking barrels allegedly resulted in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in a former worker at Firestone Tire & Rubber (Molina v. Shell Oil Co., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Defense attorney: Lawrence Riff).

Drunk driver
Award: $10,510,030
Fifty-seven-year-old single mother of two sustained serious injuries when her vehicle was broadsided by a dump truck driven by an intoxicated driver in the course of his employment (Lopez v. D.A.V. Charities of Central California Inc., Fresno County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Roger A. Dreyer).

STD transmission
Award: $6,753,600
Fifty-six-year-old woman sued her 77-year-old sexual partner for knowingly infecting her with the herpes virus (Confidential v. Confidential, Riverside County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Shaun M. Murphy).

Pedestrian struck
Award: $4,000,000
An 81-year-old man was severely injured when struck in a crosswalk by a speeding pickup whose driver was in the course of her employment (Song v. CBIZ ATA of Orange County LLC, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Steven M. McGuire).

Editor's Note: California Bar Journal publishes this abbreviated summary of important trials in California provided by Trials Digest, a Thomson West business. To report your case results, go to west.thomson.com/trialsdigest/form.asp or call 415-344-6000.

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