Confidential
Settlement – $425,000Judge
Court
Ventura Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Armando J. Berriz
(Berriz Law Group APC)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Rosie Cohan
(technical)
Thomas Golden
(medical)
Defendant
Martin D. Levine
(medical)
Facts
On June 9, 1999, the plaintiff, a 51-year-old female Ventura County social worker with the Department of
Children and Family Services, was injured while attending a mandatory employee seminar put on by the
defendant. The goal of this three-day seminar was to increase employee effectiveness, communication and
morale.
The defendant is an independent company providing the human resource function of increasing organizational
internal communication and employee self-awareness. The defendant began the seminar with an exercise called
"The Wall." The exercise was designed to create crisis, chaos, anxiety, tension and ultimately, failure. "The
Wall" demonstrates the attendeesÆ poor coping mechanisms and inadequate communication skills. The actual
wall is made from PVC plastic pipe which is four feet tall and extends the length of the room. The attendees
are instructed to pretend the wall is reinforced concrete, two feet thick and electrified.
All of the attendees start together on one side of the wall and are expected to get everyone to the other side of
the wall in 45 minutes. They canÆt go under it or around it and they canÆt use the furniture. Contact with the
wall means instant "death" and elimination from the exercise. No further instruction was given.
The plaintiff contended that nine of the previous 10 times the defendant has used this exercise, at least three of
them resulted in injuries. In this case, the plaintiff was being passed over the electric barrier, when she dropped
to the floor and sustained injuries.
Settlement Discussions
No settlement discussions were held until the mandatory settlement conference before Judge Long which was held two weeks before trial, and the case settled. The plaintiff settled for $360,000 and her husband settled for $40,000. The defendant settled with the Intervenor County for $25,000 for 50 percent of its lien, in addition to a complete compromise and release of future workerÆs compensation claim.
Specials in Evidence
$27,242 $30,000 $40,000
Injuries
The plaintiff allegedly sustained a displaced compression fracture, right anterior portion of the tibial plateau, deep vein thrombosis, phlebitis and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (complex regional pain syndrome). The plaintiffÆs husband alleged loss of consortium.
Other Information
MAY 18, 2001 VERSION
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