Confidential
Settlement – $0Judge
Court
San Bernardino Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Raymond E. Brown
(Aguilera Law Group APLC)
Experts
Plaintiff
James Carter
(medical)
Defendant
Patricia Jenkins
(medical)
Thomas Cooney
(medical)
Facts
On March 13, 1993, plaintiff A, a 19-year-old auto detailer, entered the defendant grocery store in Rancho Cucamonga wearing shorts and a T-shirt. The defendant employee, who was employed by the store as a bakery clerk, yelled for plaintiff A to stop. Plaintiff A attempted to leave the store by hurdling over a turnstile behind an unidentified man, who the defendant bakery clerk claimed he had observed acting suspiciously. The defendant bakery clerk then attempted to restrain plaintiff A. Plaintiff B then entered the store and fled with his brother, plaintiff A. Other store employees pursued. A standoff and physical altercation followed in the parking lot. The plaintiff brothers brought this action against the defendants, the grocery store, the defendant employee and two other employees (both courtesy clerks) based on assault, battery, false imprisonment and negligent hiring theories of recovery. The defendant bakery clerk filed a cross-complaint against plaintiff A.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made C.C.P. º998 settlement demands for $74,000 (plaintiff A) and $53,000 (plaintiff B), followed by demands at the settlement conference for $10,000 (plaintiff A) and $20,000 (plaintiff B). The defendants and cross-complainant offered to dismiss the case for a waiver of costs.
Specials in Evidence
$355 (plaintiff A); $890 (plaintiff B); $1,638 (cross-complaint)
Injuries
The plaintiffs alleged that plaintiff A sustained a bruised neck and low back pain and that plaintiff B sustained blurry vision in his left eye and low back pain as a result of the incident. The cross-complainant alleged that he sustained a cervical spine strain, occipital scalp contusion and left knee trauma, resulting in neck pain, hip pain, tailbone pain and dizziness.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately two years and two months after the case was filed. An arbitration was held on September 8, 1995, before Arbitrator Charles Harrison, Esq. of Riverside resulting in an award to cross-complainant of $8,250. The plaintiffs moved for trial de novo, resulting in the reported settlement.
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