A jury awarded more than $11 million to a motorcyclist seriously injured in a collision with a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power vehicle in 2019.
“The city of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power fought us every step of the way,” plaintiff’s attorney Robert Glassman said about the verdict on Friday, March 22, in Van Nuys Superior Court in favor of his client, Grady Dillon. “They asked the jury to award our client nothing and find him 100% at fault for a motor-vehicle collision that was not his fault. We are thankful the jury got it right and delivered a just verdict based on the evidence and their common sense.”
In a statement released Monday, the DWP said: “The safety of the public and our employees is our highest priority. The plaintiff was traveling 59 mph in a 35-mph zone. … We are considering our options for appeal.”
The City Attorney’s Office says in its court papers that Dillon had “actual knowledge of the condition and particular danger alleged, knew and understood the degree of the risk involved and voluntarily assumed such risk.”
According to the suit, Dillon, then 38, was riding his motorcycle in downtown Los Angeles on April 12, 2019, when a DWP employee, Manuel Medina, made an unsafe, left turn in his van directly into Dillon’s path. Unable to avoid the DWP vehicle, Dillon collided with the van, causing him fractures to his pelvis, ribs, left wrist and right foot, as well as a lacerated spleen.
Dillon was hospitalized for 12 days and underwent two surgeries, on his pelvis and a wrist, and then spent nearly four months to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, the suit states. In the ensuing years, Dillon underwent three more surgical interventions for his injuries, including a lumbar fusion and a wrist osteotomy.
Dillon will have pain and physical limitations for life, according to the suit.
Dillon’s attorneys said a video shows Medina was at fault for the collision and that Medina also testified in a deposition that he did not look left before turning.
The jury found the DWP 100% at fault for the collision and awarded Dillon $11.045 million, including $9.5 million for his past and future pain and suffering.
