Facts

On Feb. 23, 2010, at 7:45 a.m., plaintiff Su Mah, 52, a seamstress, exited a city bus in the vicinity of Mission Street in San Francisco. Mah attempted to cross Mission Street, outside of a crosswalk, between 5th and 6th Streets. While doing so, Mah was struck by a vehicle operated by Jordan Assaf, who was traveling westbound on Mission Street. Mah was thrown an estimated 60 feet in the air and landed on her head, rendering her unconscious.

Mah and her husband, Stephen Huang, sued Assaf as well as his father, Ben Assaf, the owner of the vehicle.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs alleged that Jordan was negligent in the operation of the vehicle. Plaintiffs claimed that the impact, between the left front corners of the vehicle including the side view mirror, was forceful enough to throw Mah 60 feet in the air, which proved that Defendant was speeding. Plaintiffs noted that rather than stopping his vehicle, Defendant went around the block and returned to the scene approximately two to five minutes later, after police had already arrived.

Plaintiffs obtained surveillance video from the nearby San Francisco Chronicle Building, which showed that Mah exiting the bus and starting to cross Mission Street. The video did not show the collision, but Plaintiffs claimed it showed Defendant barreling down Mission Street and established that he was in the number one lane, while Defendant testified in his deposition that he was in the number two lane.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants claimed that Jordan was not speeding and that Mah was jaywalking outside of a marked crosswalk. Defendants contended that liability was at least 75/25 percent in favor of Defendants.

After the defense viewed the surveillance video, both Plaintiffs' and Defendants' liability experts agreed that Jordan was traveling at a speed of at least 35 mph, and possibly as fast as 42-45 mph per Plaintiffs' expert.

Defendants' liability expert confirmed that Mah was visible for at least 4.5 seconds prior to impact.

Settlement Discussions

Mediation held in early 2012 ended very shortly after it began due to the defendants refusing to offer more than $400,000. Subsequent to the mediation, the defense filed a CCP section 998 for $413,000.

Damages

Mah claimed approximately $300,000 in damages for past medical costs, and further sought $32,000 for past lost earnings, $130,000 to $150,000 for future lost earnings, and damages for her pain and suffering. Huang sought damages for a loss of consortium. Defendants did not dispute Mah's medical bills or past lost earnings, but contended that her orthopedic injuries had healed and that she should have been able to return to work approximately nine months post-accident. Both Plaintiffs' and Defendants' medical experts agreed that Mah suffered a mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury.

Injuries

Mah was taken by ambulance to the emergency room from the scene of the collision. She sustained a closed head injury including a left temporal contusion and subarachnoid hemorrhage, as well as right temporal bone fracture without displacement, blood in the middle ear with decreased hearing, and multiple contusions and hematomas. She also suffered a closed fracture to her right dominant humerus, closed comminuted fracture to her right tibia, fracture to her right fibula, and syndesmosis disruption of her right ankle. While at San Francisco General Hospital, Mah underwent surgical repair of the right humerus fracture including an open reduction internal fixation. She had surgical repairs to the right tibia and fibula, also requiring open reduction internal fixation. There was also a cortical screw repair of the syndesmosis disruption. Mah remained in the hospital until March 2, 2010. She was thereafter transferred to The Tunnel Center, a rehabilitation facility, where she remained until March 19, 2010. Mah was non-weight-bearing on her right lower extremity until approximately late May 2010. Thereafter, she began partial weight bearing. The cortical screw placed in her right ankle fractured as a result of usage of the right lower extremity, but remains in place in its broken condition. Mah still walks with a limp and requires a cane for ambulation in certain instances. Her right dominant hand is weaker due to the injury to the right upper extremity and continues to provide symptomatology to her as does her right lower extremity. She complains currently of weakness in these extremities and some episodic complaints of pains. Mah also suffered traumatic brain damage, diagnosed by Plaintiff's neuropsychologist, Dr. Harriet Zeiner, and Defendant's, Dr. Carol Beebe Walser. Dr. Zeiner believes that Mah has lost approximately nine points of IQ as a result of the brain injury. Mah still experiences problems with speed of information processing and has impairment of construction. Her working memory and vocabulary is mildly impaired. Mah's head injury has resulted in a moderate cognitive impairment, which creates a higher risk for Alzheimer's in the ensuing eight- to 10-year period.

Result

The case settled $1.55 million.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Dec. 27, 2010.