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Cek v. Rdoht8/4/2000
JUDGMENT: Reversed and remanded.
These appeals are taken from a final judgment of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas. Appellant/cross-appellee, Jennifer Roht, appeals from the trial court's decision to assess prejudgment interest against her as the party required to pay money in a negligence action. Appellee/cross-appellant, Edward Cek, appeals from the trial court's selection of a commencement date for the running of the prejudgment interest award.
On November 14, 1995, appellant was attempting to exit a restaurant parking lot by turning left onto State Route 91 in Willoughby, Ohio. The point at which appellant wished to enter the flow of traffic was in close proximity to a busy intersection with two lanes of travel in both directions. At the time, the traffic light at the intersection was red. Consequently, the vehicles in the first lane directly in front of the restaurant parking lot were in the stopped position; however, there was no line of traffic backed up in the second lane.
A motorist in the lane closest to appellant made a hand motion indicating that appellant could exit the parking lot if she desired. Appellant accepted the offer and cautiously began to roll into the first lane of traffic. As she did so, the light at the intersection turned green for the two lanes which appellant needed to cross in order to execute the left turn. Despite this, appellant continued to effectuate the left turn under the apparent belief that no vehicle was immediately oncoming in the second lane. Upon entering this lane, however, appellant pulled directly into the path of a truck being driven by appellee. A collision ensued as appellee's vehicle struck the front left side of the automobile operated by appellant. Following the accident, the police issued a citation to appellant for failure to yield the right of way.
Appellee retained counsel to pursue compensation for his injuries, whereupon his counsel entered into discussions with a claims representative who worked on behalf of Old Republic Insurance Company ("Old Republic"). Old Republic had previously issued an automobile liability insurance policy to Eastman Kodak Company, which was appellant's employer at the time of the accident. Despite various correspondence between counsel and the insurance representative, no settlement could be reached regarding appellee's claim for damages.
As a result, on January 20, 1997, appellee filed a civil complaint in the trial court. The complaint named appellant and the D.L. Peterson Trust as defendants. The latter was named as a party to the action because it owned the vehicle which was being operated by appellant at the time of the accident. As grounds for the lawsuit, appellee alleged that he had suffered various physical injuries and related medical expenses as a proximate result of appellant's negligent operation of her vehicle. Appellant filed an answer in which she expressly denied operating the automobile in a negligent manner.
On April 8, 1997, counsel for appellant filed a notice with the trial court indicating that various interrogatories and a request for production of documents had been served upon appellee. Shortly thereafter, appellant's counsel sent a letter to counsel for appellee requesting that the latter provide a written settlement demand.
After several months had passed, the attorneys filed a joint stipulation in which they agreed that appellee should be afforded additional time in which to respond to the interrogatories and the demand for production of documents. Subsequently, on June 30, 1997, counsel for appellee filed a notice with the trial court indicating that appellee had submitted his responses to appe
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