City garbage truck hits plaintiff's car. $2.5M. San Diego County.

Summary

Defense admits trash truck hit plaintiff, but says the impact could not have caused the claimed injury.

Case Name: Kekoa Young v. City of San Diego
Court and Case Number: San Diego County Superior Court / 37-2021-00017371-CU-PA-CTL
Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Date Action was Filed: Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Type of Case: Vehicles - Truck vs. Auto
Judge or Arbitrator(s): Hon. Joel R. Wohlfeil
Plaintiffs:
Kekoa Young
Defendants:
City of San Diego
Type of Result: Jury Verdict

Attorney for the Plaintiff:
HHJ Trial Attorneys by Elliott Jung and Adam Hepburn, Carlsbad.
Attorney for the Defendant:
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani by William Coggshall and Jan Buddingh, San Diego.

Defendant's Medical Expert(s):
James Bruffey, M.D., spine surgery.
Plaintiff's Technical Expert(s):
Eugene Vanderpol, accident reconstruction/biomechanics.
Defendant's Technical Expert(s):
Mark Gomez, Ph.D., biomechanics.

David Casteel, accident reconstruction.

Facts and Background:
Plaintiff, a 40-year-old man, was stopped at a stop sign when he was hit by a City of San Diego garbage truck. The truck was making a left-hand turn while on route to pick up residential garbage bins and hit plaintiff's front right bumper/quarter panel.

Plaintiff's friend arrived on scene and drove him to Urgent Care.

Plaintiff subsequently received chiropractor treatment, pain management treatment and also, a minimally invasive microdiscectomy surgery a year after the crash because he had a 10-11 mm herniation at the L5-S1 level. After the surgery, plaintiff underwent physical therapy, more pain management, and acupuncture.
Plaintiff's Contentions:
That defendant caused all of plaintiff's injuries.
Defendant's Contentions:
That plaintiff was not seriously injured in the crash; that the impact was less than 10 mph with superficial damage to his vehicle, and that plaintiff’s friend told him to call an attorney right away on the same day. Also, that plaintiff had complained of preexisting back pain to his providers.

Further, that plaintiff went to work the day after the crash and never stopped working as a bartender at a nightclub and as a chef. Defendant also had sub rosa of plaintiff walking his dog, washing the windows outside his house, bending over with his dogs, working in the nightclub and bending over, etc.

Plaintiff §998 Demand: $1,240,095 on July 21, 2022
Defendant §998 Offer: $400,000 on July 7, 2022; then, $700,000 on May 16, 2023.