CVN screenshot of defense attorney William Cogshall delivering his closing argument
Las Vegas, NV - A Nevada state court jury returned a defense verdict Monday in a lawsuit filed by a man alleging he suffered serious injuries after an AutoZone employee attacked him, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The Clark County jury delivered their verdict after hearing closing arguments Friday in a trial that began on August 7. Plaintiff Ernesto Raymundo-Lazaro and his wife, Guadalupe Ventura Gomez sought roughly $10 million in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages after AutoZone employee Jose Guerra assaulted him in 2022 after Raymundo-Lazaro attempted to purchase a diesel filter for his car.
Although Guerra was later convicted on criminal battery charges, AutoZone successfully argued the company was not liable for the incident, maintaining the assault occurred outside the scope of Guerra’s official employment duties, and that a manager present in the store was not negligent by failing to immediately intervene.
Subscribers to CVN’s online trial video library get unlimited live and on-demand access to the full trial, including all witness testimony, along with hundreds of other gavel-to-gavel civil jury trials in CVN’s online trial video archive. Not a subscriber? Sign up today for instant access to this case and many others featuring some of the top plaintiff and defense civil trial attorneys in the country.
Attorneys for Raymundo-Lazaro accused Guerra of punching him in the head in 2022 after he accused Guerra of being a racist for supposedly being unwilling to assist a Spanish-speaking customer. Raymundo-Lazaro recorded the incident on his phone, however the footage only showed the actual assault and not the full series of events beforehand.
Raymundo-Lazaro underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2016, and his attorneys claimed the impact of the punch and his fall to the ground injured his weakened spinal column in addition to causing a traumatic brain injury. They argued the attack clearly took place within the scope of Guerra’s official duties, and that AutoZone also had liability due to a store manager just short distance away allegedly failing to intervene even after the loud argument began to rapidly escalate.
CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Ian Samson delivering his closing argument
In addition to questioning the severity of Raymundo-Lazaro’s injuries, particularly his alleged TBI, AutoZone’s attorneys cast Raymundo-Lazaro as the instigator and claimed he began following Guerra around the store and filming him with his phone as he attempted to walk away. The plaintiffs argued Guerra had a documented employment history of being short-tempered and aggressive.
Defense attorneys told jurors the attack technically occurred after Guerra finished attempting to assist Raymundo-Lazaro, and that he was planning to immediately clock out after concluding his service interaction, which they repeatedly argued meant the assault fell outside the scope of Guerra’s official duties despite the attack taking place inside the store.
They also argued the store manager was engaged with other customers at the time and couldn’t have reasonably been aware of the escalating confrontation until Guerra actually attacked Raymundo-Lazaro, and that the manager immediately intervened to restrain Guerra once that occurred.
Attorneys for the parties did not respond to requests for comment from CVN.
The plaintiffs were represented by Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP and Lagomarsino Law.
The defense was represented by Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP.
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
