Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Brian Panish, Tom Schultz, and Alex Behar obtained a $37,025,000 settlement for an injured motorcyclist, pursuant to a high/low agreement with defendants, that was finalized just minutes before a jury delivered a $27,727,630 verdict in the matter. Plaintiff Michael LaPlante and his wife were represented in the case and at trial by PSR as well as by co-counsel Joshua C. Braddock of Arendsen Braddock LLP. The case was tried before the Honorable Timothy B. Taylor in what was the last of his 189 jury trials following a 20-year judicial career. This verdict is believed to be the largest ever reached in San Diego County for this type of injury.
On the morning of August 27, 2021, Griffith Company employee Antelmo Martinez was driving his truck to work when he made an unsafe U-Turn on SR-94, directly into Mr. LaPlante’s path of travel. Unable to avoid the defendant’s vehicle, Mr. LaPlante collided with the truck and was hospitalized with severe injuries including multiple rib fractures, kidney injury, hip fracture, femoral artery injury, open tibia and fibula fractures, talus fracture, labral tears to his right shoulder and bilateral knees, and a mangled left leg.
In the months that followed the collision, Mr. LaPlante remained hospitalized and underwent 18 surgeries before ultimately having his leg amputated in November 2021. Only 42 years old at the time of the collision, Mr. LaPlante faces a lifetime of pain and physical limitations as a result of his injuries.
Prior to trial, the parties agreed defendant Martinez was responsible for the collision but argued whether or not he was acting in the course and scope of his job responsibilities at the time, which would make Griffith Company vicariously liable for Mr. LaPlante’s injuries.
It was uncovered through discovery and developed through the testimony of dozens of witnesses over the course of the month-long trial that the defendant driver’s employer, Defendant Griffith Company, failed to comply with their own safety policies which led the jury to find in favor of Plaintiffs on a direct negligence theory against the company. Specifically, an unsafe zero-tolerance late policy, failure to provide traffic control plans or directions, failure to monitor drivers for fatigue, and a failure to provide lodging to the commuting laborers were unsafe practices, which led to the collision, after the defendant driver missed his turn into the job site, and attempted to make a U-turn to avoid being late and sent home without pay.
The jury also held Griffith Company vicariously liable for the negligent driving of defendant Martinez under multiple theories. Specifically, they found that the company’s requirement that laborers drive their own personal vehicles to multiple, non-contiguous job sites through California, from Bakersfield to Needles to San Diego, with minimal notice, and further without providing reimbursement for the drivetime, provided a benefit to the company, and that the collision was a foreseeable risk of the business, which admittedly relied on its mobile workforce. The jury also found the 103-mile commute that Martinez was directed to make the morning of the collision, and which required him to leave his home at 3:00 a.m., was extraordinary, was reasonably related to his employment, and conferred a benefit to the employer, who did not provide transportation or mileage reimbursement but relied on defendant Martinez’s personal vehicle.
Following two days of deliberations, the jury found defendant Griffith Company directly negligent and apportioned 80 percent of fault on the company and 20 percent fault on defendant Martinez. They awarded Mr. LaPlante and his wife $27,727,630 including $18,000,000 to Mr. LaPlante for his past and future pain and suffering.
Minutes before the jury reached its verdict, a high/low settlement agreement was reached with Griffith Company with a low of $37,025,000 and a high of $42,000,000.
“The Griffith Company fought us every step of the way in this case, asserting the Going-and-Coming Rule shielded it from liability, but the jury got it right and delivered a just verdict for our clients,” said Brian Panish, founding partner at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP. “We are grateful to the jury and thankful Mr. LaPlante will be able to receive the care he needs to move forward.”
Defendant Griffith Company was represented in the matter and at trial by Christopher Patton and Marvin Amoroso of Patton Law Group. Defendant Antelmo Martinez was represented in the matter and at trial by Anthony T. Case of Case Harvey Fedor.
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