Confidential
Settlement – $55,000Judge
Court
Orange Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Defendant
Edward A. Abraham M.D.
(medical)
Richard N. Selby
(medical)
Facts
Plaintiff was a 66-year-old security guard at South Coast Plaza. On September 11, 1992, while on duty, he was called to the parking structure where Defendant window cleaning company had previously been pressure cleaning the roof of the parking structure. A Co-defendant street sweeper service was operating a street sweeper in the parking lot area and ran over the first Defendant's supply hose. The hose caught in the street sweeper and pulled it out of the planter box where it was connected; this resulted in the flooding of the planter box and part of the parking structure. Upon seeing the flooding and wiring sticking up -- a potential electrical hazard -- Plaintiff went with two other security guards to where they thought the main shutoff valve was located. While trying to locate the shutoff valve, Plaintiff slipped on a slope and slid approximately 40 feet, onto a lower parking level.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiff contends he demanded $85,000 and Defendants made no offers prior to the mandatory settlement conference. Defendants contend that Plaintiff demanded $100,000 exclusive of the Workers' comp lien.
Specials in Evidence
$11,401 $1,957
Injuries
Neck, back, and head soft tissue requiring physical therapy; Plaintiff was off work approximately 4 months and subsequently returned to work at his prior job as a security job. (Plaintiff had a prior industrial back injury (in 1987) which had resulted in his going through rehabilitation.) Plaintiff also claimed disc herniations with disability of the arms and legs.
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