Plaintiff claimed injuries from improperly secured inflatable slide
Personal Injury/negligence
Negligent Assembly or Installation — Negligent Training
Plaintiff claimed injuries from improperly secured inflatable slide
$2,125,000
Lillian Brookman v. Signature
Fundraising, Inc., No. MC026617
Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles
J. Stephen Czuleger
12/5/2018
Tiffany T. Chung, Law Offices of Tiffany Chung, Montebello, CA
Kohn & Bentley, Los Angeles, CA
On Oct. 10, 2014, plaintiff Lillian Brookman, 60, a teacher, was with her class on a blacktop play area outside of Summerwind Elementary School, in Palmdale.
One inflatable, which was 20 feet in length from bottom to top, flew over a portable building and struck Brookman in the face and upper torso. She sustained injuries to her head, face, chest and a shoulder.
Brookman sued the owner and operator of the inflatables, Signature Fundraising Inc. She alleged that Signature Fundraising was negligent in its installation and operation of the inflatables.
Brookman claimed that workers for Signature Fundraising were negligent for using improperly fabricated stakes to set up the inflatables and for operating the inflatables when it was too windy. She further claimed that Signature Fundraising was negligent for failing to provide its workers with training and instructions on what conditions were too windy and unsafe.
The defendant stipulated to liability two weeks before trial.
brain damage; brain, internal bleeding; depression; facial laceration; fracture, nose; fracture, rib; head; post-traumatic stress disorder; rotator cuff, injury (tear); scar and/or disfigurement, face; seizure disorder; traumatic brain injury; unconsciousness
Brookman sustained a traumatic brain injury and was rendered unconscious for less than 30 minutes. She also sustained a fractured nose, a torn rotator cuff, a fractured rib and a gash on her forehead. She was immediately taken to a hospital, where a CT scan showed internal bleeding in her brain.
The jury found that Signature Fundraising’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing Brookman harm. It determined that Brookman’s damages totaled $2,125,000.
$78,700 past economic damages
$446,300 future economic damages
$300,000 past noneconomic
damages
$1,300,000 future noneconomic
damages
$2,125,000
$1,900,000 (C.C.P. § 998 [insurance coverage’s limit was $1,940,000])
$750,000
Crum & Forster
Trial Length: 9 days
Trial Deliberations: 6 hours
Jury Composition: 6 male, 6 female
A. David Axelrad, M.D., psychiatry,
Houston, TX
Michael B. Freeman, Ph.D.,
epidemiology, Portland, OR
Kenneth E. Lehrer, Ph.D., economics,
Houston, TX
Steven A. Castellon, Ph.D.,
neuropsychology, Calabasas, CA
Howard Tung, M.D., neurosurgery,
San Diego, CA
Defense counsel moved to tax costs. The matter settled before the hearing on the motion to tax costs.
Editor’s Note: This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiff’s counsel. Defense counsel did not respond to the reporter’s phone calls. –Priya Idiculla