Confidential
Settlement – $190,000Mediator
Court
L.A. Superior Pasadena
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
On Jan. 16, 1995, the plaintiff husband, a 31-year-old lineman, was working for his employer installing fiberoptic cable on a utility pole jointly owned by the defendants. The plaintiff husband was about 27 to 30 feet in the air in a "cherry picker" type bucket. A powerline carrying 12,000 volts, which was not attached to the pole, ran about 1 or 2 feet away from the pole and into the area where the plaintiff husband was working. The plaintiff husband received a severe electrical shock from the line. The plaintiff husband and his site supervisor knew the powerline was energized before commencing work. The plaintiffs, the injured husband and his wife, brought this action against the defendants based on a negligence theory of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The settlement discussions were not disclosed.
Specials in Evidence
$44,000 (plus future medicals) $____________ $____________ $____________
Injuries
The plaintiff husband claimed he suffered third degree burns on 2 percent of his body (legs) requiring localized skin grafts and aggravation of a seizure disorder resulting in anxiety and moodiness.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately one year and five months after the case was filed. A mediation was held on June 18, 1997 before Justice Robert Feinerman, retired, resulting in the reported settlement. The plaintiffs and defendants settled around the workers compensation carrier, so that the settlement is not reduced by the $98,100 workers compensation lien which is still prosecuting a lawsuit against the defendants.
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