Sexual abuse
Award: $12,564,600
Boys in a group residential facility in the 1970s were repeatedly sexually abused by employees (Jones v. Masonic Home for Children in Covina, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: David N. Bigelow).

Employee retaliation
Award: $3,750,000
A captain in the Los Angeles Fire Department was retaliated against after disputing preferential treatment in training of women (Lima v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Gregory W. Smith).

Trick-or-treater killed
Award: $210,000
Halloween night proved fatal to an 8-year-old child who was struck and killed by a vehicle in a dangerous intersection (Macias v. Tong-Try, San Luis Obispo Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Daniel J. O’Neill).

Side effects
Award: Defense
A woman with chronic sinus infections claimed that her treating physician did not inform her that vestibular toxicity was one of the risks of long-term antibiotic therapy (Morandi v. Gonzalez, Ventura County Superior Court, Defense attorney: Raymond L. Blessey).

Passenger injured
Award: $2,200,000
Multiple injuries were sustained by a teenaged passenger in a car that slammed into a concrete wall as a result of the driver’s speeding and recklessness (Guilburt v. Owens-Bender, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Christopher R. Aitken).

Electrician falls
Award: $5,050,000
A 36-year-old electrician placing cables on the roof of a building for filming of a television series fell 20 feet to the ground because of a dangerous ladder (Confidential v. Confidential, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Eric F. Yuhl).

Neonatal negligence
Award: $10,000,000
Failure to diagnose an imperforate anus in a premature baby resulted in severe lifelong bowel injuries (Confidential v. Confidential, Riverside County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Bruce G. Fagel).

Fatal fire
Award: $975,000
Parents alleged that a house fire caused by a gas leak resulted in the death of their 9-year-old daughter (Blum v. Electrolux Home Products, Orange County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Darren O. Aitken).

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.