Confidential
Settlement – $250,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior San Fernando
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Shari L. Rosenthal
(Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
F. Daniel Kharrazi
(medical)
David Auerbach
(medical)
Tracy Cunningham
(medical)
Mark A. Gomez Ph.D.
(technical)
Alan Keith Miller
(technical)
Facts
A plaintiff customer settled her claim with the defendant store for $250,000 after she alleged that
a store employee struck her elbow with a shopping cart as he was moving them through the
store. On Feb. 21, 1999, the plaintiff, a 42-year-old delivery driver and her husband were in a
store owned by the defendant and while waiting in line at Customer Service, the plaintiff was
leaning over the handle of the shopping cart. At that time, the plaintiff alleged that an employee
of the defendant, who was pulling the carts behind him, as well as pushing a cart in front of him,
struck the back of the plaintiffÆs right elbow with the cart, causing her right wrist to roll over the
metal bar of the cart. As a result of this, the plaintiff sustained injuries.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff submitted, pretrial, a C.C.P. Section 998 demand of $275,000. The defendants offered $35,000. The case was settled at $250,000.
Injuries
The plaintiff claimed that she suffered chronic lateral epicondylitis of the right elbow and an epicondylar release surgery was performed. A subsequent revision surgery was performed because the initial epicondylar release was not successful. The plaintiff also claimed that she suffered a rotator cuff tear in her left shoulder due to overuse while her right elbow healed. She underwent surgery to remove the tear. Finally, the plaintiff alleged that she suffered synovitis (inflammation of a synovial membrane) of the right wrist, for which she had surgery. She claimed total past medical expenses for all of her surgeries, amounting to approximately $80,000. The plaintiffÆs treating orthopedic surgeons opined that all of the plaintiffÆs injuries and treatments were caused by the accident. The defendant maintained that the plaintiffÆs left shoulder injury and right wrist injury were unrelated to the accident and that none of the plaintiffÆs injuries were caused by the accident.
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