REGULARS

TRIALS DIGEST

A Rottweiler jumped up and bit a cable repairman's finger as he rested it on the fence dividing defendants' property from the service property (Bartlett v. Del Valle, Sacramento County Superior Court).

Discrimination under ADA
Award: $216,689

A school district discriminated against a long-time employee due to her prescription medication addiction (Heiserman v. Lemon Grove School District, San Diego County Superior Court).

Molester required to pay
Award: $14,100,000

The convicted molester of two minors was required to pay damages and punitive damages in the civil action against him (Tallmadge v. Tallmadge, Los Angeles County Superior Court).

School bus rear-ended
Award: $575,000

A tractor-trailer rear-ended a school bus, and a first-grader suffered a severe abdominal injury in this case of admitted liability (Covarrubias v. J.D. Heiskell and Co., Kings County Superior Court).

Doctor harasses couple
Award: $1,010,000

A physician made about 1,000 harassing/obscene phone calls to a couple's home after the wife stopped referring medical clients to him (Yeo v. Turner, Contra Costa County Superior Court).

Nursing home patient falls
Award: $600,000

A retiree fell from a wheelchair at a convalescent center, re-tearing her rotator cuff (Viscovich v. Pacific Convalescent Center, Los Angeles County Superior Court).

Marble slab hits shopper
Award: $628,119

A shopper's leg was crushed when a slab of marble fell over, pinning him to the ground (Lowitz v. Glomati/Globe Marble & Tile Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court).

Quake damages condos
Award: $1,300,000

A condo project was structurally defective due to inadequate construction of plywood and dry wall shear panels (Colbath Plaza Homeowners v. Familian, Los Angeles County Superior Court).

Discrimination alleged
Award: Defense

A custodian claimed he was discriminated against because of a perceived disability (Mason v. Fresno County Economic Opportuni-ties Commission, Eastern District Federal Court).

Retaliatory firing by Kmart
Award: $6,218,700

A Kmart deli merchandiser was fired in retaliation for complaining about wage discrimination (Hughes v. Kmart Corp., Sacramento County Superior Court).

Gunman assaults shop owners
Award: $9,534,297

The owners of a tailor shop and a customer were assaulted at gunpoint while the security guard was off-site (Vu v. United National Bank, Los Angeles County Superior Court).

Laborer at Disneyland slips/falls
Award: Defense

A laborer working on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland slipped and fell on cement slurry, herniating a disk (Rodriguez v. Rock and Waterscape Systems Inc., Orange County Superior Court).

EDITOR'S NOTE: California Bar Journal publishes this abbreviated summary of important trials in California provided by Trials Digest Publishing Inc. For a free complete trial report on any case listed, call 510/420-1800.