CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Brian Panish delivering his closing argument
San Diego, CA - A California state court jury awarded $27.7 million on Tuesday to a motorcyclist who had his leg amputated after being hit by a construction worker driving to a job site, and the worker's employer was found liable for the man’s injuries.
The San Diego County jury returned their verdict in a lengthy trial that began on April 24. The parties agreed defendant Antelmo Martinez was liable for the accident that cost plaintiff Michael LaPlante his leg, and the trial largely hinged on whether or not his employer Griffith Construction Company was liable for any damages awarded.
While Tuesday’s verdict, which assigns 80 percent liability to Griffith and 20 percent to Martinez, is less than the up to $98 million LaPlante’s attorney Brian Panish asked for in closing arguments, Panish told Courtroom View Network after the trial the parties reached a high/low settlement agreement with a range of $37 million and $42 million during jury deliberations, with LaPlante and his wife Marisela set to receive the lower of the two payments.
The full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network. Subscribers to CVN’s online trial video library get unlimited on-demand access to the full trial including all witness testimony along with hundreds of other trials featuring many of the top plaintiff and defense civil trial attorneys practicing today. Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a monthly or annual subscription.
LaPlante's ability to realistically collect any substantial damages rested almost entirely on whether or not Martinez was acting as an employee of Griffith while making a lengthy commute in the early morning hours in 2021, when he made an illegal lefthand turn and slammed into LaPlante’s motorcycle with his truck.
Panish insisted that under California law Martinez was acting within the scope of his job duties at the time of the crash, telling jurors he faced termination if he didn’t answer a work call, and that Griffith directly benefited both from having him on the job site and from the use of the truck he drove to work. He also argued the length of the commute contributed to Martinez's fatigue.
Griffith’s attorneys acknowledged LaPlante suffered serious injuries but characterized an award of $98 million as excessive given his impressive recovery, however they vigorously maintained Griffith had no responsibility for the accident and that Martinez was not acting as an employee at the time, arguing that an employee’s actual work doesn’t begin until they clock in on the job site.
Panish told CVN both the jury’s award and high/low limits significantly exceed the defense’s $1.5 million pre-trial settlement offer, which Panish said they later increased to $2 million. He said that offer remained unchanged until the defense increased it to $12 million the night before closing arguments and then increased it again to $37 million after closings concluded, with the eventual high/low settlement coming as jurors deliberated.
An attorney for the defense told CVN there was no demand of less than $77M until after closings.
Panish said jurors told him after the trial that Griffith’s policy of having workers commute lengthy distances in their personal vehicles likely contributed to their verdict.
“They felt the testimony of the company witnesses proved the negligence in not monitoring for driver fatigue and sending drivers to remote locations with their personal vehicles and not offering hotel rooms,” he said.
Defense attorney Christopher Patton of Patton Trial Group, who represents Griffith, told CVN after the trial he was glad the jury returned a verdict less than the full amount requested by the plaintiff while also expressing his and his client's sympathy for LaPlante’s injuries.
“We’re pleased that the jury rejected plaintiff’s request for exorbitant payment and that this agreement brings some closure to everyone involved,” he said. “This case concerned a unique and complicated set of facts which coupled with unsettled law on the issues made it difficult for all employers, including Griffith Company, to determine liability.”
CVN screenshot of defense attorney Christopher Patton delivering his closing argument
Panish said the two most significant “bad fact” challenges he faced were convincing jurors that a commute is part of the course and scope of someone’s employment, and the reality that after LaPlante eventually received a prosthetic that he did make a significant recovery and can currently drive and work.
“We proved negligence and also proved extraordinary commute distances,” Panish said, which met the legal definition of a “special mission” on behalf the company beyond just an ordinary drive to work.
With regards to LaPlante’s recovery, much of the testimony on his injuries and eventual damages focused on the 18 surgeries he underwent and the delays he faced before finally receiving the prosthetic.
Panish said the verdict is significant because it provides a pathway for course and scope liability for laborers against contractors, but also because the trial was Judge Timothy Taylor’s last before retiring from the bench after being first appointed to the San Diego Superior Court by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
Correction: An earlier version of the article stated that the jury awarded $32 million dollars instead of $27.7 million.
