Jurimatic: Verdicts and Settlements

On January 18, 2022, Raul Velazquez Guzman was struck twice by Nathan Scott Wigle’s reversing 2012 Mercedes CLS 550 while working on a cabinetry project at Wigle’s Sacramento home. Guzman alleged Wigle acted negligently and recklessly, while Farmers Insurance disputed coverage, arguing the collisions were a single occurrence. Guzman suffered severe injuries, emotional distress, lost earnings, and extensive medical costs. He sought declaratory relief against Farmers and negligence damages against Wigle. Wigle denied liability, raised comparative negligence, duplicative claims, assumption of risk, and statutory defenses. On June 13, 2025, a jury found Wigle negligent and awarded Guzman $18,512,253—$613,063.47 in economic damages and $14.5 million in non-economic damages, with the remainder in additional categories holding Wigle’s negligence a substantial factor in Guzman’s harm.

On May 21, 2020, Marie Thornton tripped over concealed fence wires on the Legion of Honor Side Path in San Francisco. She sued the City and County of San Francisco for negligence, premises liability, and dangerous condition of public property (Gov. Code §835), citing poor maintenance, overgrown foliage, broken fencing, and lack of warnings. Thornton alleged severe, permanent injuries, medical costs, lost wages, and impaired daily function. The City denied liability, asserting procedural defects, statutory immunities, assumed risk, comparative negligence, and failure to mitigate damages. On February 6, 2025, the parties reached a $300,000 conditional settlement, pending City approval, with dismissal expected by June 1, 2025.

On April 13, 2021, in Santa Monica, Liliana Barrios Viamari’s 2019 Honda Civic collided with Sara Toribio-Ruiz’s 2017 Honda Civic as Toribio-Ruiz drove southbound on 21st Street. Plaintiffs alleged Liliana’s negligent driving and Michael Viamari’s negligent entrustment caused the crash, injuring Toribio-Ruiz and affecting her daily life. Her husband, Paul Parra, sought loss of consortium. Defendants denied liability, citing comparative negligence, superseding causes, statute of limitations, and limits on non-economic damages. On June 16, 2025, a Los Angeles jury awarded Toribio-Ruiz $1,295,000, including $595,000 for future medical expenses, $200,000 for past non-economic losses, and $500,000 for future non-economic losses. Parra received no damages.

In October 2020, Sharon L. Anderson, an African American woman and long-term therapy client, accused Los Angeles County mental health therapist Christopher Earl of misconduct. She alleged inappropriate remarks, personal contact, and unwanted hugging during therapy sessions, claiming emotional distress, psychological harm, and loss of trust in county services. Anderson sued Earl and the County for professional negligence, general negligence, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The defendants denied liability, citing statutory immunities, procedural bars, comparative negligence, and failure to mitigate damages. The case settled for $1,500,000, resolving all claims without admission of liability.

On October 16, 2021, Regino Gomez-Garcia turned left onto Madison Street in Riverside with a green light. Defendants Gladys and Pedro Gallegos allegedly ran a red light, striking his vehicle. Gomez-Garcia claimed their reckless driving caused serious injuries, medical costs, lost earnings, and lasting pain. Gallegos denied liability, citing comparative negligence, third-party fault, failure to mitigate, and statutory defenses. On June 18, 2025, a Riverside County jury found Gallegos negligent and awarded Gomez-Garcia $8,569,756.35, including $2.3 million for future medical expenses and $5 million for future non-economic damages, plus costs and interest.

Krystal Slocum sued Anaheim Union High School District, alleging childhood sexual assault by her teacher David Sepe. She claimed AUHSD ignored red flags and failed to act, allowing continued abuse. The case sought damages for emotional distress and loss of daily function. AUHSD denied liability, citing immunity and procedural defenses. On February 14, 2025, the parties reached a settlement, resolving all claims for $198,700, with dismissal confirmed in March 2025.

On May 27, 2022, bicyclist James Baldwin Jr. crashed on Washington Boulevard, Marina del Rey, allegedly due to a pavement defect. He sued Los Angeles for negligence, dangerous condition of public property (Gov. Code §835), and premises liability, citing serious injuries, disability, medical costs, lost income, and property damage. The City denied liability, claiming Baldwin’s negligence, assumed risk, other parties’ fault, statutory immunities, and procedural bars. On February 7, 2024, they reached a conditional $500,000 settlement, pending City Council approval, with dismissal expected by November 4, 2024.

Plaintiff Kwayde Miller sued Helen and Daniel Elson and the County of San Diego after a 2019 motorcycle crash at San Pasqual Road and Zermatt Lane. He alleged negligence and a dangerous public property condition. Defendants denied liability, citing statutory immunities and comparative negligence. On March 12, 2025, a San Diego jury awarded Miller $13,148,000, including $12M for past noneconomic damages and $846,000 for future lost earnings.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued The Princess Martha, LLC and affiliates after Sarah Branyan, a disabled applicant, was denied a job without proper accommodation. Branyan requested adjustments for the application process, but the company refused. The EEOC argued this violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Defendants denied discrimination and claimed no feasible adjustment existed. After hearing testimony and reviewing evidence, a Florida jury found Branyan qualified and The Princess Martha negligent. The jury awarded $5,083 in lost wages, $50,000 for emotional harm, and $350,000 in punitive damages, reinforcing employers’ responsibility to engage in good-faith accommodation efforts.

Kimberly Banks and Carol Cantwell led a class action against R.C. Bigelow, Inc., accusing the tea company of falsely labeling its teas as “Manufactured in the USA” and “America’s Classic.” They showed Bigelow sourced all tea leaves from countries like Sri Lanka and India, while the packaging implied domestic origin. Bigelow denied wrongdoing, saying the claims referred to U.S. blending and packaging. After hearing expert testimony and reviewing evidence, a California jury ruled that the labeling misled reasonable consumers. Damages were awarded to the class, and Bigelow was ordered to revise its labels to disclose the foreign origin of its tea leaves.

Plaintiff Hyojin Choi sued after two Orange County crashes in 2023. She alleged Michael Chen, Yichong Tang, and Xiuying Li negligently operated vehicles on I-5 in Irvine and in Cypress. Choi claimed overlapping injuries made damage apportionment uncertain. Chen denied liability and raised multiple defenses, including Proposition 213 and seat belt use. To avoid trial, Chen agreed to pay $250,000 in a full and final settlement.

A July 20, 2020 crash on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles led to a negligence suit. Plaintiff Jesunita Agasang claimed severe injuries and financial loss after Defendant Nasreen Babu-Khan’s vehicle struck her Toyota. Babu-Khan denied fault, citing comparative negligence and third-party liability. A Los Angeles jury found Babu-Khan 60% at fault and Agasang 40%, awarding $70,000 in damages for future medical care and past non-economic losses.