Facts

On Nov. 19, 2016, a clear, dry and warm evening, at approximately 11 p.m., plaintiff Marina Henderson, age 35 at the time, a single mom with three children under 10 years old, was operating her 2015 Nissan Sentra as an Uber driver with a passenger in the rear seat, and was entering the northbound 110 Harbor Freeway at 8th Street in Los Angeles and had slowed to a stop due to stop-and-go traffic. At that time, defendant Teresa Madrigal Alvarez, age 28, was operating a 2007 Mazda CX7 owned by her spouse, defendant Evelia Ayala Calderon, in the northbound #3 lane closest to the onramp. At that time, Alvarez fell asleep and veered to her right striking the left rear of plaintiff's vehicle. Instead of immediately pulling over to exchange information, defendant Alvarez left the scene and did not call the police to notify them she had been involved in a collision.
Because plaintiff's passenger obtained the license plate of defendants' vehicle, the police were able to track her down and she admitted to CHP that she had fallen asleep and pulled off the freeway at the first and safest exit (Temple Street off of the 101).

Defendant Alvarez claims she had been working at the Beverly Center and was on her way home in Hollywood. Although tired from a long day, and instead of taking a direct route home (4.2 miles) she instead took her "usual route home" - La Cienega to the 10 freeway east, to the 110 Harbor Freeway north, to the 101 north to her exit in Hollywood (18 miles). She testified over two days.
On the first day she admitted to falling asleep. On the second day she denied falling asleep and claims she only told the CHP officer that she was drowsy. She also claimed she took the long way home to avoid someone throwing a rock through her car window on surface streets and that the highways were therefore safer. She also denied exiting off the 101 freeway to Temple Street and exited at 6th Street and then claimed at trial she was in a different set of lanes altogether, all contrary to what she told the CHP officer.
Both plaintiff and the Uber passenger were injured from the collision. The passenger made his own claim and settled. He testified to the hard impact and that Defendant Alvarez was driving erratically following the collision.
Plaintiff did not feel pain until hours later and was more sore the following day. She went to Kaiser Urgent Care and then began chiropractic treatment (5 visits) and then changed to another chiropractor (25 visits). The medical bills totaled $5,354. This was the extent of her medical treatment. She wanted to treat later on when her symptoms returned, but could not afford it and her Kaiser insurance did not provide chiropractic care. She continues to have residual neck and back pain to this day.
After the accident, plaintiff notified Uber of the collision and her Uber App was deactivated, preventing her from working. Plaintiff had leased her Nissan from Uber and paid the lease payments via working for Uber. She was slightly behind in her payments at the time of the accident. Because it was a hit-and-run, Uber wanted to assess a $1000 deductible to repair the vehicle, which Plaintiff could not afford. While her vehicle was in the body shop for an extended period, she was missing lease payments because she could not work, and under threat of having the Nissan repossessed by Uber. Having no choice, she took a significant portion of her financial aid money for college (LA Trade Tech) to pay Uber, but Uber repossessed her car nonetheless. As a consequence, she did not have a car, could not work, and no longer had that portion of her financial aid which she had intended to use for housing for she and her three kids. As a result, she ended up being homeless for about six weeks, renting a car for she and her kids to live in. They washed and bathed at gas stations and grocery stores. This lead to severe emotional distress for plaintiff to be in this position and she subsequently was provided IHSS services because she was unable to take care of herself and her kids.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that defendant Alvarez was responsible for all damages proximately caused by the collision, including her medical expenses, car rental expenses, and the severe emotional distress that resulted from the ordeal, including becoming homeless.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant claimed the impact was minimal and should not have caused any injury, or at most, soft tissue injury for 30 days.

Insurer

Fred Loya Insurance

Settlement Discussions

The case was mediated with the LASC Resolve Program (1 plaintiff attorney & 1 defendant attorney) with a mediator's proposal of $10,250; Defendant refused; Defendant made a final offer and CCP 998 of $7,500; plaintiff demanded $10,200

Specials in Evidence

Plaintiff claimed five years of chiropractic care with treatment once/month for $8,400.

Damages

Medical expenses $5,354; loss of income $8,000; car rental expense $1,250; prejudgment interest $3,260; future medical expenses $5,040; past pain and suffering $22,500; future pain and suffering $0

Injuries

Neck pain and diminished range of motion, mid-back and low back pain, bilateral shoulder pain, wrist pain, sleep disruption, driving anxiety and emotional distress

Result

Plaintiff verdict for $45,404

Other Information

Plaintiff will recover CCP 998 interest from Feb. 5, 2020; Defendants' policy limits are $15,000.

Deliberation

Three hours

Poll

12-0 on liability and 10-2 on damages

Length

11 days