 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Davila v. Nickell10/26/2005
ired on the job. In their testimony, the Louies attempted to additionally disclaim any legal liability based on the fact that they were out of the country at the time of the accident and had no knowledge of the accident.
At the conclusion of the evidence and before closing arguments, the court ruled on plaintiffs' equitable claim that the individual owners were the alter egos of the defendant corporations (Sun Villa Inc., Joadd, and RND). The court found the alter ego doctrine applied and the owners of each of these corporations could be held personally liable for the corporate acts. Over defendants' objections, the court instructed the jury as to this determination. Also over the defendants' objections, the court permitted Barraza to amend his complaint to add the Louies to his breach of contract claim.
After jury instructions and closing arguments, the jury was given a special verdict form. The form pertained only to plaintiffs' negligence claims and did not ask for any findings on Barraza's breach of contract claim against the Joadd defendants or the Louies; likewise, there were no questions concerning the defendants' statute of limitations or res judicata defenses. After fewer than five hours, the jury returned a verdict finding in favor of plaintiffs on their negligence claims.
In the special verdict, the jury found: (1) Joadd, and not Rodriguez, was the general contractor for the Sun Villa project on the date of the accident; (2) Barraza and Davila were employees on the Sun Villa project at the time of the accident; (3) at the time of the accident Rumjahn and/or Nickell were the "personal agent(s)" of Kay and Sun Louie; (5) at the time of the accident, Rumjahn and Nickell were acting within the scope of the agency; (6) at the time of the accident, the following defendants (personally or through their agents) were "in control of the job site at the Sun Villa project": Sun and Kay Louie, Rumjahn, Nickell, Joadd, Sun Villa Inc., and RND; (7) each of the defendants listed above were "involved in a joint venture for the remodel" of the Sun Villa apartments; (8) clear and convincing evidence established that each of the defendants listed above (including the Louies) committed oppression, fraud, and malice in failing to provide safety devices/equipment; and (9) defendants' negligence caused Barraza's injuries and Davila's death.
The jury awarded Barraza: $252,677.05 in economic damages and $1,775,000 in non-economic damages; the Davila parents: $1.8 million in damages; and the Davila children: $200,000 in economic damages and $2,250,000 in non-economic damages. Thereafter, a punitive damages phase was held. In this phase, the jury was given a single instruction informing them of the factors to consider in deciding whether to award punitive damages and the amount of these damages. The jury thereafter awarded punitive damages to Barraza ($1,876,666.65), the Davila children ($2,804,166.65), and the Davila parents ($2,869,166.65).
The court denied the Joadd and Louie defendants' motions for new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The court's additional posttrial orders-including attorney fees and sanction awards and an order that a settlement between Kuiper and plaintiffs was in good faith-will be discussed in more detail in Parts V and VI of the Discussion section below.
Each defendant filed a notice of appeal except Rodriguez who prevailed in the action and Kuiper who prevailed on his good faith settlement motion. Only the Louies filed a complete appellate brief. Defendants Sun Villa Inc., RND, Nickell, and Rumjahn filed separate briefs, stating they were joining in the Louies' brief. Joadd's appeal was dismissed for failure to f
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 California Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|