Confidential

Facts

On July 21, 2004, the plaintiff, age 30, and a five-year veteran on active duty in the United States Navy, entered an elevator at the defendant's building. While the elevator ascended to the second floor, the plaintiff held onto an interior handrail and did a knee bend and stretch. As he raised up from the knee bend, the interior elevator handrail disengaged from the elevator side wall, causing the plaintiff to fall backward, impacting the elevator wall and floor with his lower back.

Discovery established a history of elevator handrails coming loose, becoming detached and falling off the elevator wall; it also established that prior to the subject accident, there was no specific inspection protocol for elevators or to determine whether the handrails were tightly secured to the wall. The elevator handrail in question was approximately seven feet in length and had four metal posts welded to it that connected into a female collar anchored in the elevator wall. Each of the four posts was secured by a single screw that was tightened by an Allen wrench through the collar and against the metal posts.

Immediately following the incident, the plaintiff received medical treatment, consisting of examination, injections of Demerol, Toradol and X-rays were taken.

The plaintiff received conservative medical management through military doctors and his HMO due to severe lower back pain. He was referred to UCLA Medical Center for pain management and was prescribed heavy doses of medication and given PARS intra-articularis injections for pain. In October 2004, the plaintiff was evaluated for spinal surgery, and on Dec. 17, 2004, the plaintiff underwent a posterior lumbar inter body fusion at L4-5 and L5-S1. The fusion at L4-5 did heal; however, there was a pseudarthrosis non-healed fusion at L5-S1, which requires a future surgery.

Prior to the injury, the plaintiff's plan was to stay in the Navy as a career, and he had accumulated many honors and awards during his 5.5 years of service. He had advanced to a military grade equal to an E-5 Sergeant. His military evaluations were consistently outstanding and he was recommended for, and obtained, early advancement in grade.

As a result of the injuries received and post-surgery, the plaintiff was evaluated by Navy medical doctors and declared medically unfit for continued service. He was medically discharged from the Navy in December 2005.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that the defendant, in owning and operating an elevator, was a common carrier and, therefore, must exercise the utmost care and diligence to avoid an accident. The defendant's maintenance records and depositions of maintenance department workers established that after repeated problems of handrails becoming loose and detached from the wall, nothing was done to correct the problem, other than to tighten screws when handrails were reported as being loose. Inspection of the elevator and handrail by plaintiff's expert established that if the handrail set screws were tight the handrail could not be moved, even after applying multiple forces in excess of 65 pounds at each of the four attachment posts. However, when the set screws were loosened, the handrail rapidly pulled out and disengaged from the wall.

The plaintiff asserted that there was little or no comparative negligence to be attributed to plaintiff and that plaintiff had every reason to believe that the handrails were securely attached and that he did not exert any substantial force in merely doing a knee bend while holding on to the handrail.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that the plaintiff was at fault in performing a gymnastic exercise and that the plaintiff's use of the handrail causing it to disengage from the wall was not a foreseeable risk.

Damages

The plaintiff's medical expenses incurred and paid totaled $27,000. Future medical expenses and future life care needs at present value were in excess of $200,000; the loss of ability to perform household related chores was estimated at $200,000; past loss of income was $23,000; and the loss of future earning capacity in the military was evaluated at $560,000; the loss of future military pension benefits was estimated at approximately $400,000. The economic damages were reduced by $640,000 to account for the present cash value of offset future earning capacity.

Injuries

The plaintiff's injury was diagnosed and confirmed by X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. The diagnosis included chronic lower back pain, referred left lower extremity pain, status post posterior lumbar interbody fusion at L4-5, L5-S1, a non-healed fusion at L5-S1, Grade One spondylolisthesis, chronic cervical strain and minimal disc bulge at C5-6. Following the surgery and medical discharge from the Navy, his condition was chronic, with debilitating lower back pain and chronic left side neck pain. The prognosis due to the non-healed fusion was that plaintiff will require one major surgery described as a posterior exploration and instrumentation removal of existing hardware with re-fusion from the posterior approach, followed by an anterior interbody fusion with structural allograft and bone morphogenic protein. The plaintiff's medical expert opined that the injuries to the cervical and lumbar spine were a direct result of the subject incident and that the mechanism of injury, complaints and objective findings are all consistent with the injuries sustained. Even assuming a successful surgery, the plaintiff would be limited to light or sedentary work and would have a limitation in all physical activities and suffer chronic future pain. The defendant's medical experts contended that the plaintiff had a history of pre-existing lumbar complaints documented by a lower back injury sustained in 2002 while deployed in Iraq, and the surgery was not due to the fall.

Other Information

In February 2006, the parties participated in a voluntary mediation with R.A. Carrington, Esq., acting as mediator. The case did not settle. Prior to trial date, the defendants successfully filed a motion to bifurcate liability from damages. In March 2006, at a mandatory settlement conference before the Hon. David W. Long with additional participation by the mediator, R.A. Carrington, the case settled for the gross sum of $850,000. The Navy medical lien was compromised and settled for $5,000.