Confidential
Settlement – $337,500Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Norwalk
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Thomas G. Stolpman
(Stolpman Law Group)
Defendant
Facts
This case involved 2 maritime incidents in which Plaintiff sustained injury; one on July 19, 1990 and the other on August 3, 1990. On July 19, Plaintiff, a 45-year-old mate, was attempting to locate the end of a broken 1.5-inch steel scope. After the 15-ton anchor was retrieved and placed on an anchor scow, Plaintiff took control of another anchor scow and located the rope on the bottom of the harbor by using a grappling hook. The rope was then attached to the drag line on the scow's winch by means of a shackle. The line was then winched in with the dredge winch. Plaintiff went to check whether the end of the line was off of the harbor floor, by walking to the bow of the scow and striking the wire with his foot. Movement would indicate that the wire was hanging free in the water, which was approximately 70 feet deep; lack of movement indicated that the wire was still lying on the bottom. The wire did not move. Plaintiff attempted to verify that it was on the bottom by trying to move the wire with his hand in a different direction. As he was doing this, the dredge leverman began winching the line again. Plaintiff was jerked by the sudden movement and felt immediate pain in his neck as the wire pulled before he was able to let go of the wire. Following the first injury, Plaintiff continued to work, but began seeing a chiropractor, complaining of neck pain radiating into his shoulder with some tingling in his fingers. On August 3, 1990, Plaintiff was making up additional pipeline for the dredge. The dredge is essentially a huge pump which digs material loose from the bottom of the harbor and then pumps it through a pipeline to an area where it is spilled. In this case, the spill area was an area of landfill being created in the harbor to create a new ship berthing area and cargo area. The pipeline changes length as the dredge moves around in the area being dredged. The mate and his crew are responsible for adding to the pipeline or removing pipe as needed. When Plaintiff was injured, he was standing on pontoons which helped the pipeline to float. The pontoons are attached to the pipeline by a saddle which is made of steel. The saddle has cleats to which lines can be made up. A deckhand then attempted to toss a line onto a cleat on a section of pipe and had missed. Plaintiff jumped onto the pipe in order to make up the line to the cleat. After making up the line, he stepped onto a pontoon in attempting to turn around. The skin of the pontoon gave way under his foot, and Plaintiff again jerked his neck in an attempt to maintain his balance and avoid falling into the water. He felt an immediate increase in his neck symptoms and an immediate sense of radicular pain in his arm.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiff contends his initial demand was $1,500,000 including punitive damage exposure, reduced to $500,000; and Defendant offered $125,000 increased to $250,000.
Specials in Evidence
$15,400 $215,500 $996,300
Injuries
C4-7 disc herniations requiring anterior fusion at C5-6 and C6-7 and future surgery at C4-5.
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