Facts

Decedent Seyed Banihashemi, an 82-year-old retired physician, fell on June 28, 2006, claimed the automatic door of defendant Sam Gilbert & Associates Inc.'s medical building knocked him down. An ambulance transported him to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, which treated him for a fractured hip. Banihashemi died from heart failure following hip surgery. Plaintiffs Alireza Banihashemi, Nahid Shahroki, and Negar Gharib, decedent's wife and two children, sued defendant for wrongful death.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended decedent's death resulted directly from his accident with defendant's defective door. Plaintiffs claimed, via testing done months after the incident, that the automatic door closed in two seconds rather than the five seconds required by state law. Plaintiffs claimed that decedent then passed away from the hip fracture and need for medical treatment. He was too weak to handle the pressures of surgery, already suffering from cancer, heart problems and high cholesterol.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended decedent did not use the allegedly defective door according to a witness and his wife's own testimony. The plaintiffs presented no evidence of any building code violation or that the automatic door shut too quickly. Based on the physical evidence and testimony of decedent's wife and a witness, decedent either fell or lost his balance, causing his own injury, per the death certificate signed by decedent's own son-in-law which indicated that the cause death was congestive heart failure.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiffs initially demanded $1 million.

Damages

The plaintiffs sought damages for wrongful death. Decedent's son-in-law was his treating physician for 10 years but lost all of the subpoenaed medical records.

Injuries

Hip fracture.

Result

Richard Kolostian presided over a mediation at which the parties settled for $100,000 (cost of defense).

Other Information

Insurer: Chubb.