Recent Injury Settlements
Workers’ Compensation/Third Party Settlement: $550,000.00.
A 27 year old female store customer attempted to pass a bad check for the purchase of groceries. Our client, a “front end” manager at Safeway, refused the bad check and asked the customer to leave the store, at which time the customer became enraged and told our client, “I am going to kick your ass” and “you are going to sleep tonight”. Our client immediately informed the store’s on-duty security guard, but 10 minutes later the customer reentered the store and attacked our client with a butcher knife.
The case began as a workers’ compensation claim, but it became apparent that the security guard should have done something to prevent the attack, and thus we filed suit against the security firm.
The security firm denied the claim, contending that the guard was responsible for loss prevention, but not for preventing violent crimes against store employees.
Injuries: Left palm laceration, right shoulder/arm contusions, rotator cuff surgery, right carpal tunnel release, right elbow dysfunction, PTSD.
Auto accident faulty rear bulkhead: Confidential settlement
Our 18 year old client suffered traumatic amputation of her left arm at the shoulder as the result of a head on collision which killed three people. Our client was seat belted and sitting in a rear passenger seat.
The sudden deceleration forces of the collision caused luggage in the trunk to generate several tons of forward pressure, breaking through the rear bulkhead. The enormous pressure caused our client’s seat belt to act as a ligature, forcing the amputation. Our mediated settlement against the major auto manufacturer resulted in a confidential seven figure settlement which enabled our client to go on with a relatively normal life.
Cal-Osha violations lead to settlement: $850,000.00
Our client, a welder, was working on a highrise construction project in San Francisco when he fell into an uncovered floor hatch. His injuries required knee and shoulder surgeries and he was unable to return to his trade due to his resulting physical limitations.
During our investigation we discovered that Cal-Osha had assessed penalties for failure to safely maintain and secure the workers’ safe access during construction. The defendants meanwhile unsuccessfully blamed our client for being inattentive to his surroundings.