Facts

On July 15, 2003, Mae Faison was traveling north on Camden Avenue in Santa Jose. Faison was a traveling phlebotomist and was driving in the course of her employment with Beta Health Care Systems (Beta). Christine Loomis was traveling south on San Tomas Expressway, at about 45-50 mph, when she failed to stop at a red traffic light. Loomis collided with a motorcycle that was also traveling north on Camden Avenue, in the lane to the left of Faison. Loomis then collided with Faison as Faison was in the intersection.

Loomis admitted liability. Faison accepted a $100,000 policy limits offer from Loomis' insurance carrier, Allstate.

Because Faison had been on-the-job at the time of the accident, she also pursued workers compensation and a claim under Beta Health Care's underinsured motorist benefit. Beta was self-insured for motor vehicle liability UM/UIM coverage. Faison requested arbitration between herself and Beta to resolve her under-insured motorist claim. The case was tolled until 2008 so that the workers' compensation claim could be resolved.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiff initially demanded over $9.2 million. Plaintiff submitted a C.C.P. Section 998 offer to settle for $1.6 million on June 30, 2009, according to plaintiff's counsel.

Damages

Faison claimed that her car suffered approximately $13,357 in damage and was deemed a total loss. This was due to serious damage including a crushed right-front quarter panel, a crushed hood and front bumper, a shattered windshield, the deployment of both airbags, and shattered headlights. Initially, Faison also sought recovery for past and future pain and suffering and for a workers' compensation lien. She received over $225,000 in workers compensation benefits. Faison sought recovery for past and future medical bills. Faison underwent two right shoulder surgeries, multiple cervical and lumbar injections. She also had continuing medication expenses and a strong possibility of a need for more aggressive future medical services. Faison also sought recovery for past and future lost wages. Faison offered testimony from her doctors that she was unemployable in part because of her dependence on opiate-based medications. Prior to the accident, she worked full-time for Beta, with overtime hours, and part-time at an Alameda hospital. Plaintiff's expert Phillip Allman determined the present value of plaintiff's lifetime economic loss to be $3,994,462.

Injuries

She claimed cuts and bruises to her body, face, arms, legs, and right thigh; cervical, thoracic, and lumbar strain and sprain; bilateral shoulder and knee sprain and strain; anterior labral tear of the right shoulder, avulsed from the glenoid rim and displaced along the glenoid neck; synovitis at her right shoulder dislocation; annular disc bulges at C4-5, C5-6; disc herniation at T3-4, effacing the ventral thecal sac and approaching the ventral thoracic cord; left lateral subligamentous disc protrusion at L4-5, effacing the exiting nerve root; paracentral subligamentous disc protrusion at L5-S1, slightly touching the left S1 nerve; neuroforaminal stenosis at several sites with indentation of the ventral cervical spinal cord; post-traumatic adhesive capsulitis; post-traumatic arthritis to the lower and right shoulder. Plaintiff claimed her injuries caused permanent disability, and that she was completely disabled from any employment in the future and from many tasks of daily living. She requires heavy doses of opiates daily to control her pain, which was located primarily in her neck/right shoulder area and in her low back/hip. The defense challenged whether plaintiff's low back/hip injuries were related to the accident, and argued that there was insufficient evidence that the low back/hip problem was related to the accident. Because the work disability was related primarily to the low back/hip complaints, the defense argued that it should not be held liable for a large majority of plaintiff's loss of employment damages.

Result

Loomis settled through Allstate for $100,000. At a mediation before Vivien Williamson, Beta settled for $1.4 million. The workers' compensation lien was purchased with some of the proceeds from Allstate; credit was waived for future medical.