Facts

On Aug. 8, 2006, plaintiff Shannon Raymond turned her vehicle from southbound River Road in Sacramento County westbound toward the Walnut Grove Bridge, which crosses the Sacramento River. As she was making her turn, she saw the traffic gates to the bridge going down on the far side of the bridge and stopped her vehicle just beyond the open traffic gate on her side of the bridge. At that moment she saw the bridge operator, Kevin Shaffer, who was on the bridge operating the controls to the traffic gates and preparing to open the draw bridge for river traffic. Believing Raymond was in a safe position, Shaffer told her not to move and then went to the bridge house to start opening the draw bridge. As the counterweight to the bridge came down, it began to crush Raymond's vehicle, causing her to be temporarily trapped in the vehicle. Ultimately the side windows of her vehicle popped out allowing Raymond to extricate herself. Raymond was struck by the counterweight as she rolled out of the side window.

Raymond filed suit against the County of Sacramento for negligence and vicarious liability.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Raymond contended that Shaffer negligently opened the bridge. Raymond further contended that the County was negligent in its training of Shaffer. Raymond argued that she was not negligent in operating her automobile. Raymond further contended that her L4-5 disk herniated due to the trauma sustained while extricating herself from her car while the counterweight was coming down on it.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defense asserted that Raymond drove on the bridge even though flashing lights and bells warned her against it. The County contended that Shaffer did not know that plaintiff's car was located beneath the counterweight and claimed that it was impossible for him to ask plaintiff to move backward because the crossing gate had been brought down behind her. The County contended that Shaffer was properly trained, that the damage was caused by Raymond's negligence, and that Raymond's herniated L4-5 disk was a pre-existing condition not caused by the accident.

Settlement Discussions

Defendant offered $400,000 before jury selection. Plaintiff's demand was $750,000 during trial.

Injuries

Raymond was taken by ambulance to the UCD Medical Center where a lumbar CT scan confirmed a large extrusion of her L4-5 disk. Many months of conservative care including physical therapy, acupuncture, epidural steroid injections and pain management classes followed. Ultimately, Raymond underwent a L4-5 diskectomy on January 16, 2010 and then, due to recurrent symptoms, she underwent a L5-S1 diskectomy on February 13, 2010. Although her cancer was unrelated to the trauma of the bridge incident, it did prevent her from undergoing a lumbar fusion which, according to Dr. Hans Bueff, is something she will require once she completes her current cancer treatment. Both Dr. Gary Rinzler and Bueff testified that plaintiff herniated her L4-5 disk due to the trauma sustained in extricating herself from her car while the counterweight was coming down on it. Defense medical examiner Dr. Edward Younger testifed that plaintiff's L4-5 disk was herniated prior to the bridge incident based on multiple entries in her prior medical records that documented many years of back and leg pain.

Result

The jury awarded plaintiff $844,002, which included $281,334 in economic damages and $562,668 in non-economic damages. The jury also determined that plaintiff was 45 percent liable, the bridge tender was 10 percent liable, and the County was 45 percent liable. Plaintiff's recovery was reduced to $464,201.

Other Information

The defense is seeking post-trial reduction of the verdict pursuant to Government Code Section 985, which gives the court the discretion to reduce the verdict based on collateral source payments. According to plaintiff's counsel: The jury was critical of the County for failing to properly train Shaffer. Further, they were critical of Raymond for being on her cell phone, not heeding the warning lights and bells, and ultimately stopping her vehicle beyond the open gate. Plaintiff's oncologist Dr. Stephen Wang testified that Raymond has terminal cancer unrelated to the subject accident and has a life expectancy of only two years.

Deliberation

six hours

Length

eight days