Customer slips and falls in Save Mart Supermarket. Water leaking from air conditioner is blamed.
$115,682 in past medical expenses incurred by Susan Oby, all of which were on liens and unpaid.
$100,000 as to Susan Oby. Robert Oby's only claim was for loss of consortium, which the jury rejected.
None.
Todd S Bissell, A Prof Law Corp by Todd S. Bissell, Folsom.
Arata Swingle Van Egmond & Goodwin by Bradley J. Swingle, Modesto.
Daniel Cooper, D.O., osteopathy, Folsom
Daniel Dunlevy, M.D., physical medicine, Citrus Heights.
Steve Parkinson, M.D., pain management, Sacramento.
VanBuren Lemons, M.D., neurosurgery, Sacramento.
Carol Hyland, billing and life care planning, Lafayette.
John Hancock, Ph.D., economics, Gold River.
Casey Word, actuary, Walnut Creek.
On August 22, 2014, Susan Oby, age 58, slipped and fell in water leaking from an overhead air conditioner in the Folsom Save Mart. At that time she was not employed outside of the home, but was looking for work in the fast-food industry. She was also the in-home caretaker for her husband, Robert, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, for which she did get paid by In Home Support Services.
Susan Oby claimed that Save Mart knew that their air conditioner was faulty and were responsible for her injuries and medical damages, all of which were on liens as she was uninsured.
Save Mart initially denied liability and cross-complained against their air conditioning vendor, claiming that they failed to repair the leaky unit. However, once the vendor established that they made repair recommendations to Save Mart that were never authorized or scheduled before Susan Oby slipped, Save Mart dismissed their cross complaint and admitted liability.
Save Mart further contended that Susan Oby's treatment was excessive and that the medical charges were unreasonable and should have totaled approximately $50,000 based on the expert testimony of actuary Casey Word. Dr. Lemons testified that Susan suffered only a soft-tissue injury. Defendant further contended that Susan's work hours caring for her husband actually went up after the accident and that she did not suffer any wage loss.
Save Mart claimed that Susan Oby’s claim for lifetime medical expenses of approximately $1,200,000 was unreasonable and not supported by the evidence.
Susan Oby claimed soft-tissue injuries to her neck and back as well as chronic disc and facet injuries, resulting in three epidural injections and two radio frequency ablations. These procedures did not totally resolve Susan's pain and she was left with residual symptoms for which she did not receive any treatment for about 9 months prior to trial.
Susan claimed that she was delayed in returning to work for one year because of her injuries. One year post accident, she became employed at McDonald's part time, earning $9 per hour. Dr. Dunlevy testified that Susan should not work because of her residual complaints and that she should not continue assisting her husband as his in-home care taker. He also opined that she would likely require surgery in the future to address her disc injury. Susan had not consulted with a surgeon nor had any treatment in the 9 months before trial. Carol Hyland testified that Susan's medical charges were within the usual and customary range for the Folsom/Sacramento area and she also prepared a life care plan. John Hancock, Ph.D. reduced the damages to present value.
Jury awarded Susan 100% of her liened medical specials ($115,682) and gave her $100,000 in general damages.
In addition to Dr. Dunlevy and Carol Hyland's testifying as to the reasonableness of these bills, plaintiff had the owners of the chiropractic clinic, physical therapy clinic, imaging facility, and surgery center where she had her injections all testify to their billing practices and that plaintiff would still be responsible for all charges even if the jury refused to award those to her. They did not award any pre-trial wages as Susan could not prove that she was looking for a job just before the accident, and she was still working inside the home at that time as Robert's care provider.
Since Susan had not treated in the 9 months prior to trial, the jury did not award her future losses. Susan filed a cost bill for her in the amount of $55,683, which included experts and pre-trial interest per CCP Section 998.
Defendant filed a cost bill on Robert's loss of consortium claim in the amount of $53,304 with a declaration that they were seeking 25% of all of their costs from him. Motions to tax were filed by both sides. On 7-5-17, the court awarded plaintiffs 100% of their $55,683 in costs, and struck 100% of defendant's costs, finding all of Susan's costs reasonable. With post trial interest, defendant owed Susan $281,000 which has been paid in full.
Per defense counsel:
Counsel asked the jury award Susan Oby in excess of $2,000,000 at trial. The jury rejected Susan Oby’s claim of $1,200,000 in future medical expenses and awarded her nothing on this claim.
This is not an official court document. While the publisher believes the information to be accurate, the publisher does not guarantee it and the reader is advised not to rely upon it without consulting the official court documents or the attorneys of record in this matter who are listed above.
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