CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Ian Samson delivering his opening statement
Las Vegas, NV - A Nevada state court jury heard openings Thursday in a lawsuit seeking $10 million and unspecified punitive damages filed by man claiming he suffered brain, neck and shoulder injuries after an AutoZone employee punched him in the face while attempting to purchase a car part, and the full trial is being webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff Ernesto Raymundo-Lazaro and his wife, Guadalupe Ventura Gomez, sued Autozone after the 2022 assault claiming the company bears responsibility for the conduct of former employee Jose Guerra, who was convicted on criminal battery charges stemming from the incident, since it occurred during the scope of his official duties.
They allege a store manager failed to intervene during the escalating verbal exchange that preceded the attack, but AutoZone maintains Guerra completed assisting the couple and was on his way to clock out, which they argue absolves the company of any vicarious liability for Raymundo-Lazaro’s supposed injuries.
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Attorney Ian Samson of Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, representing the plaintiffs, detailed to the jury how Raymundo-Lazaro and his wife were referred to Guerra after entering the store due to Guerra having responsibility for assisting Spanish-speaking customers.
Samson argued the attack occurred while Guerra was in the midst of assisting the couple, and that his conduct took place squarely within the context of his official job responsibilities.
“This was their employee in their store doing tasks they assigned him,” Samson told the jury.
Samson explained Guerra’s manager had previously stated he was hot-tempered and quick to anger, and that Guerra resented being called over from restocking a shelf to assist Raymundo-Lazaro and his wife, supposedly complaining about “having to do everything.”
The parties dispute who instigated and escalated the verbal exchange that ensued, but Raymundo-Lazaro claimed he began filming Guerra to document what he felt was poor customer service. After Guerra warned Raymundo-Lazaro using graphic, profane language to stop filming him, he punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground, as seen on the recording from Raymundo-Lazaro’s phone shown to the jury.
Samson argued store manager John Gagne overheard the full exchange leading up to the attack but did nothing to intervene until Guerra was “pummeling” Raymundo-Lazaro on the ground while his wife looked on, which he stressed supported their claims of vicarious liability and makes Autozone liable for punitive damages.
Samson described how Raymundo-Lazaro underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2016 and argued the attack caused serious injury to his already compromised spinal column, in addition to suffering a traumatic brain injury that he alleged seriously impacted Raymundo-Lazaro’s quality of life.
“That normal errand turns their lives upside downs,” he told jurors.
Representing AutoZone, defense attorney William Coggshall of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani didn’t dispute that Guerra attacked Raymundo-Lazaro, but he characterized Raymundo-Lazaro as the instigator of the verbal conflict and argued Guerra’s employment history prior to that point was unblemished.
Coggshall accused of Raymundo-Lazaro of calling Guerra a lazy racist for supposedly not wanting to assist him, and he suggested his manager’s comments about Guerra’s short fuse were in reference to Guerra getting upset with himself about his own job performance and not with regards to his conduct towards others.
Coggshall relied heavily on in-store surveillance footage that he insisted showed Guerra clearly walking away from the service counter where he and Raymundo-Lazaro exchanged words, which he said demonstrated that he had concluded his official duties assisting the couple and was proceeding to clock out when Raymundo-Lazaro approached him with his phone.
“Mr. Guerra tried to stay away,” Coggshall argued, suggesting Guerra felt threatened during the exchange. “Mr. Raymundo-Lazaro kept on videotaping him, saying the things he was saying, to the point Mr. Guerra decided to go and get his keys and leave for the day.”
Coggshall also argued that Raymundo-Lazaro’s claimed back and neck injuries are directly related to his car accident and spinal fusion and had nothing to do with the assault, and that despite an alleged brain injury he continues to lead a fully active life without significant limitations.
The full trial is expected to take 10-15 days to complete, and CVN’s live and on-demand coverage will continue for the duration of the proceedings.
The case is captioned Raymundo-Lazaro v. Autozone, case number A-23-870727-C in Clark County Circuit Court, Nevada.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com