Confidential
Settlement – $1,335,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Werner R. Meissner
(Meissner Law Firm PC)
Experts
Plaintiff
Richard Chandler
(technical)
Facts
A 50-year-old lumber yard worker was impaled by a piece of wood when the Ripsaw wood-cutting machine at which he was working kicked back. The ripsaw was manufactured in or about 1977, sold by the manufacturer to a supplier on or about May 10, 1977, and sold six years later to the plaintiff's employer. The manufacturer subsequently sold its ripsaw product line.
Settlement Discussions
The defendants settled in full for $1,335,000 "new money" and an agreement not to disclose the names of the defendants, the defendants' attorneys or the defendants' insurance companies. The successor filed a summary judgment motion on the issue of successor liability which was denied. The court also denied the supplier's summary judgment motion. Thereafter, the successor accepted plaintiff's section 998 offer for $950,000 new money and his wife's section 998 offer for $200,000. At the court-ordered mediation, the supplier agreed to settle with plaintiff for $150,000 new money and with his wife for $35,000. The plaintiff also settled his workers' compensation claim for a present value of $600,000 and the serious and willful misconduct claim for $100,000 cash.
Specials in Evidence
approximately $450,000, after being negotiated and paid by the employer's workers' compensation carrier and held to that number by the Hanif case. $250,000 present value for loss of earnings and earning capacity
Damages
The plaintiff's wife filed a claim for loss of consortium.
Injuries
On the date of the accident, the plaintiff underwent a bilateral thoracotomy with repair of lung injury and left ventricular injury, laparotomy with splenectomy, diaphragm repair, cardiopulmonary bypass and repair of the perforation of the left ventricle from the stick impalement. He was confined to ICU for more than two months and continued in the hospital or transitional rehabilitation center for six more months.
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