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Jury Verdicts & Settlements
Vicarious liability case results in
$23.5 million damage award
April 26, 2004 By: Review staff
Plaintiff attorneys Alan Neufeld, seated, Robert S. Pinkiert, standing left,
and David Kleinberg
Case: Osbaldo Mejia, as legal guardian of Edwin Mejia
and Nelly Mejia v. Manheim Auctions Government Services, Daytona Auto
Dealers
Exchange and Daniel Wayne
Webb
Case no: 01-18808-CA-21; Miami-Dade Circuit Court
Case type: Auto negligence
Judge: Jennifer D. Bailey
Trial dates: April 5, 2004
Filing date: Aug. 9, 2001
Plaintiff attorneys: David Kleinberg, Robert Pinkiert and Alan Neufeld
of Neufeld Kleinberg & Pinkiert, Aventura
Defense attorneys: Joel D. Adler and Walter G. Latimer of Marlow Connell
Valerius Abrams Adler Newman & Lewis, Coral Gables; Mark Rutledge
of Mark Rutledge, P.A., Boca Raton
Details: In December 2000, Edwin Mejia was driving south on I-95 in
his Toyota Corolla with his wife, Dilcia, and their 3-year-old daughter,
Nelly. In front of them was an Oldsmobile Cutlass driven by Carloe Levy-Johnson.
As they passed through the Golden Glades interchange, Levy-Johnson, for
unexplained reasons, slowed to near a stop. That prompted Edwin Mejia
to slow to 6 miles per hour or less.
A U.S. Navy-owned refrigerator truck, traveling about 55 mph, slammed
into the back of Mejia’s car, crumpling it. Dilcia, 30, died shortly
after the accident. Edwin, 32, a maintenance worker at a Fort Lauderdale
condominium, was left severely brain damaged; he now requires round-the-clock
care. Their daughter, who was sitting in the back seat, survived without
any significant injuries.
The truck was driven by Daniel Webb. He was driving on behalf of Nashville-based
Manheim Auctions Government Services, which was transferring the truck
to Boca Chica Naval Air Station near Key West. Webb was assigned to pick
up another truck at the air station and drive it to Daytona Beach to
be auctioned off by Daytona Auto Dealers Exchange.
Manheim Auctions and Daytona Auto are both owned by Atlanta-based Manhein
Auctions Inc.
In August 2001, Osbaldo Mejia, who is Edwin’s brother, filed suit
in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on behalf of Edwin and Nelly. The complaint
alleged that Daniel Webb was negligent and that Manheim Auctions and
Daytona Auto were vicariously liable.
A separate wrongful death suit was filed against the same defendants,
on behalf of Dilcia. The two cases were consolidated for discovery but
will be tried separately. The wrongful death case is slated to go to
trial next month.
Levy-Johnson, who was uninsured and lives in Jamaica, was not included
as a defendant in either of the suits.
The wrongful death case originally was filed in U.S. District Court
in Miami and included the Navy as a defendant. But the Navy was dismissed
from the case because of sovereign immunity, and the case was removed
to Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Key pre-trial ruling: The main legal hurdle for the plaintiffs was to
establish that Manheim Auctions and Daytona Auto were vicariously liable
for Webb’s alleged negligence. Mejia’s lawyers argued that
since Manheim Auction and Daytona Auto had agreed to transport the truck
to the Boca Chica Naval Air Station, then pick up another truck, both
companies were vicariously liable, David Kleinberg said in an interview.
The lawyers for the two defendants rejected the argument claiming that
their clients were not vicariously liable.
In a pivotal decision last May, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Norman S. Gerstein,
who was then presiding over the case, ruled that Manheim Auction and
Daytona Auto were vicariously liable for any negligence committed by
Webb.
Plaintiffs’ case: During two weeks of trial, the plaintiffs sought
to demonstrate that Webb had ample time to slow down but negligently
failed to do so. They used testimony from an expert, in the reconstruction
of the accident, to show that Webb did not brake until within 30 feet
of the Mejias’ car, not nearly soon enough.
Defense case: The defense countered with its own experts that Levy-Johnson
unexpectedly slowed down and that there was nothing Webb could do to
stop in time. “They attempted to lay all of the blame on [Levy-Johnson]
and exonerate Mr. Webb for being in an unavoidable situation,” plaintiff
attorney Kleinberg said.
Outcome: After deliberating for four hours, the six-person jury determined
that Webb was 90 percent at fault for the accident. It deemed Levy-Johnson,
who was a Fabre nonparty defendant, 10 percent liable.
The jury awarded $23.5 million in total damages. Edwin was awarded $21
million in future medical expenses, $400,000 in past and future earnings
and $1.2 million pain and suffering. The jury awarded Nelly Mejia $650,000
for loss of consortium and $250,000 for future psychological medical
expenses. Prior to the trial, the parties stipulated that Edwin Mejia
had $492,165 in past medical damages.
Subtracting Levy-Johnson’s 10 percent liability, Manheim Auctions
and Daytona Auto owe the Mejias $21.6 million.
Post-trial: Kleinberg is seeking to increase that total award, claiming
in motions that the noneconomic pain and suffering damages are so low
that they “shock the conscience.” Typically, it’s the
defense that makes this type of argument.
Kleinberg said that Manheim Auctions, the parent company of the two
defendants, has $85 million in insurance coverage from which it intends
to collect the judgment.
Meanwhile, one of the defense attorneys said the defendants will appeal
Judge Gerstein’s 2003 ruling on vicarious liability. “There
has always been a big issue as to the vicarious liability that brought
us to court in the first place,” said Walter G. Latimer.
— Matthew Haggman
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