Accidental shooting Award: $51,833,697
A young boy was rendered quadriplegic following the accidental firing of a
defectively designed pistol (Maxfield v. Bryco Arms, Alameda County Superior
Court).
Pedestrian struck Award: $1,650,000
An 8-year-old girl was hit by a car while crossing the street mid-block near
a construction zone (Garcia v. City of San Diego, San Diego County Superior
Court).
Brain damage Award: $70,939,050
A child sustained permanent brain damage as a result of failure to diagnose
phenylketonuria (PKU) (Cook v. Stanford Health Services, San Francisco
County Superior Court).
Employment discrimination Award: Defense
A 60-year-old gay radiologist at UCSF Medical Center alleged discrimination
based on age and sexual orientation (Thonei v. The Regents of the University
of California, San Francisco County Superior Court).
Chain-reaction collision Award: $5,500,000
A sudden stop on I-5 near Los Angeles resulted in a chain-reaction accident
involving a jackknifed tractor-trailer (Frias v. Ralphs Grocery, Los
Angeles County Superior Court).
Soil contamination Award: $12,600,000
The purchaser of real property sued after learning of subsurface petroleum
contamination (Holdgrafer v. Unocal Corp., San Luis Obispo County Superior
Court).
Construction accident Award: $5,055,000
A construction worker suffered frontal lobe brain damage when his skull was
fractured by the load on the forks of a lift truck (Lomeli v. Kalmar Industries
AB, San Bernardino County Superior Court).
SUV rollover kills mother Award: Defense
A young mother was killed in a rollover accident involving a Kia Sportage SUV
(Beck v. Kia Motors America Inc., Sonoma County Superior Court).
Child’s fatal fall Award: $995,000
A child fell to her death from an apartment window that was too close to the
floor and lacked safety guards (Bae v. Berendo Group LLC, Los Angeles
County Superior Court).
Brutal bar beating Award: $3,600,000
A customer at a bar was brutally beaten without provocation by two patrons
who had exhibited aggressive and belligerent behavior for at least two hours
before the incident (Manley v. Rainer Inc., Los Angeles 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.
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