Arlene Cabrera v. Michael Kapko, Olgo Kapko, Harrison Electric, et al.
Published: Oct. 16, 1999 | Result Date: May 28, 1999 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: VC025772 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Norwalk
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Thomas M. Phillips
(Phillips Firm)
Experts
Plaintiff
Leonard Kushner
(technical)
Michael Shiffman
(medical)
Defendant
William Luttrell
(technical)
J. Randall Davis
(medical)
Facts
On May 5, 1997, the plaintiff alleged that she was plugging in a vanity mirror to an electrical socket, located in the dining room, when flames or fire came out of the socket causing her to jump back and fall over a chair that was adjacent to the dining room table. She claimed that she sustained injuries as a result of the incident. In response to the incident, an employee of Harrison Electric traveled to the plaintiff's apartment. At the apartment, Walther replaced the outlet due to major failure of the wire stab connection. He indicated that there could be a number of causes for the failure. Prior to the incident, Harrison Electric had been called to the plaintiff's apartment in December 1996. At that time, an employee of defendant, Harrison Electric, responded to a service request by Whittier Brokers. Upon his arrival at the plaintiff's apartment, the electrician was led into the bedroom area of the apartment and noticed an electrical outlet that appeared to have smoke above the plug area. The face plate on the outside of the socket was not in any way damaged. Before taking the face plate off the socket, the electrician located the breaker box which was in the hallway of the apartment. At that time, he noticed that the breaker for the damaged outlet had not been "tripped." He thought that this was unusual but noted that he was not completely sure whether or not someone may have turned it back over after the incident and before he arrived. In an abudance of caution, he replaced the breaker controlling the socket in question because he was concerned that it may not have tripped over. He then removed the face plate off the damaged socket and saw that some of the wires were burned back. He repaired those wires and then replaced the face plate. He did not check all the wires in the apartment. Testing of the voltage throughout the apartment was excellent. He tightened the wires at the terminals of the breakers to insure that they were properly fastened. He did not check all wiring throughout the unit.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff's demand was in the $60,000 range. Harrison Electric offered $10,000, Michael Kapko and Whittier Brokers offered $10,000, giving the plaintiff a joint offer of $20,000.
Specials in Evidence
$14,000 $427.50
Damages
$300 (property damage).
Injuries
The plaintiff claimed that as a result of the incident, she suffered a complex tear, posterior horn of the left knee meniscus, resulting in surgery.
Deliberation
½ day
Poll
12-0
Length
four days
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