Rickey Ivy v. Erum Kiger, David Kiger
Published: Jun. 8, 2004 | Result Date: Dec. 11, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 320332 Verdict – $81,178
Judge
Court
San Francisco Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
R. Thomas Grotz
(medical)
Defendant
Brian Doherty
(technical)
Facts
On July 12, 2000, the defendant Erum Kiger was returning to her Audi A4, which was parked at a meter on the right side of Powell Street in San Francisco. She then looked to her left to check to see if it safe to walk into the street in order to enter the driver's side door. When checking for oncoming traffic, Kiger allegedly saw a tow truck, towing a cable car, stopped at a stop light approximately two or three cars lengths behind her Audi. She determined that she had enough time to safely enter through the driver's side door, so she proceeded around the vehicle, briefly into the street and into the Audi. At the same time, the stop light for the tow truck had turned green, and the tow truck was proceeding northbound on Powell. The cable car and Kiger's open driver's side door then collided. The conductor of the cable car, who was at the front of the cable car, signaled to plaintiff Rickey Ivy, 53, a cable car brakeman employed by San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI), to stop the cable car. Ivy, who was on the back platform of the cable car, initiated the braking. Ivy was then thrown forward and struck his left shoulder on a doorway of the cable car, allegedly injuring his shoulder. Ivy filed a workers' compensation claim with MUNI. Ivy and plaintiff-in-intervention, the city and county of San Francisco, sued Kiger and her husband, David, alleging negligence. The city and county of San Francisco intervened in the action in order to recover Ivy's workers' compensation benefits.
Injuries
Ivy claimed that he suffered a torn right rotator cuff, back injuries, as well as elbow and wrist injuries that caused him to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. He claimed that he had surgery on his left shoulder and needed future surgery on the shoulder and left wrist. He claimed that he could not go back to work because of his injuries. Ivy claimed $91,724, the full amount of the lien. He claimed costs for future surgery, wage loss for six months and costs for rehabilitation for a total of $26,724. He claimed past wage loss of $127,120, future wage loss of $801,720 and costs for past and future pain and suffering. Ivy's orthopedic surgeon, Thomas Gotz, testified that Ivy had a torn rotator cuff, that he did suffer carpal tunnel syndrome after the accident, and that all surgeries were related to the accident. Defense expert, Anthony Jew, an orthopedic surgeon, testified that Ivy sustained only minor injuries, if any. Defense expert, Brian Doherty, testified that there was no mechanism for injuring the rotator cuff in the accident.
Result
PLEASE PROVIDE THE TEL AND FAX NO. OF JOHN L. TAYLOR.
Other Information
The defense counsel reported that on Jan. 5, 2004, the court determined that under the Witt v. Jackson rule (57 Cal.Rptr. 369), the negligence of the MUNI employees reduced Ivy's recovery by an additional 80 percent due to comparative negligence. Coupled with his own 5 percent negligence, Ivy's award against the Kigers was reduced to $12,177. However, the $12,177 award is less than the city and county of San Francisco's $91,724 lien. Therefore, the $12,177 will go to the city and county of San Francisco, resulting a total award to Ivy of $0.
Poll
9-3 (Kiger's negligence), 12-0 (Ivy's negligence), 12-0 (damages), 12-0 (other's negligence), 12-0 (liability)
Length
six days
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