$31.2 Million Verdict, $10.9 Million After 65 Percent Comparative Fault, for a Pedestrian Who Lost a Leg When an Employee Driving Home From a Business Trip Hit Him Near LAX
After trial: The jury's gross damages finding of $31,156,000 was reduced by the plaintiff's 65 percent comparative fault to a net verdict of approximately $10.9 million, which is the ranked figure. No appellate opinion has surfaced in public databases and we could not confirm whether the judgment was paid; DJI is a large corporate defendant, but its insurance and any post-trial resolution are not public.
Won by Dordick Law Corporation.
Cesar Sosa was crossing mid-block near Los Angeles International Airport in the middle of the night, wearing dark clothing, when Michael Shabun, driving home from a business trip for drone maker DJI Technology, struck him. Sosa suffered multiple fractures, a traumatic brain injury and the amputation of his left leg. DJI argued Shabun was off the clock because he had stopped at a gas station to meet a friend on the way; the court rejected that defense and let the jury decide whether the trip home was within the scope of employment. On November 7, 2017, the jury found Shabun and DJI liable and set damages at about $31.2 million, but assigned Sosa 65 percent of the fault for jaywalking, leaving a net recovery of about $10.9 million.
What happened
Cesar Octavio Sosa Jr. was on foot near Los Angeles International Airport in the middle of the night, dressed in dark clothing, crossing the street mid-block rather than at a crosswalk. Michael Shabun was driving home. He had been on a business trip for his employer, DJI Technology Inc., the Chinese drone manufacturer, and on his way back from the airport he had stopped at a gas station to meet a friend before continuing home. His car struck Sosa in the roadway.
Sosa's injuries were catastrophic. He suffered multiple bone fractures and a traumatic brain injury, and his left leg was amputated. He filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 25, 2016, against Shabun and DJI, and the case was assigned to Judge Michael L. Stern at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.
The fight at trial was as much about DJI as about the crash. Under California's respondeat superior doctrine an employer is liable for an employee's negligent driving within the scope of employment, and a business trip, including the trip home from it, generally qualifies. DJI argued that Shabun had left the scope of his employment by the time of the collision: he was no longer on the clock, and the stop at the gas station to meet a friend was a personal detour that broke the connection to the business trip. The court refused to take that question away from the jury, and the jury rejected the defense, finding that Shabun was still acting within the course of his employment on the way home. That finding put DJI, not just its employee, on the hook for the verdict.
Gary A. Dordick of Dordick Law Corporation tried the case for Sosa and asked the jury for $60 million. James T. Catlow of Doherty & Catlow defended Shabun, and Rhett P. Warriner of Inglis, Gower & Warriner defended DJI. The defense case rested heavily on Sosa's own conduct: he had been crossing illegally, mid-block, at night, in clothing that made him hard to see.
On November 7, 2017, the jury returned a verdict finding both Shabun and DJI liable. It set Sosa's damages at about $31.2 million: $9 million in future medical expenses, $456,000 in past medical expenses, $1.7 million in future lost wages, and $20 million in noneconomic damages for his pain, suffering and the loss of his leg. It then assigned Sosa 65 percent of the fault for the collision, largely because he was jaywalking. Under California's pure comparative fault rule the award is reduced by the plaintiff's share, which brings the net verdict to roughly $10.9 million, reported at the time as an $11 million verdict for a jaywalker.
No appeal by DJI on the scope-of-employment question has surfaced in appellate records, and whether the judgment was paid is not public. The case is cited on the defense side as a warning about employer exposure for employees traveling on business, including the drive home.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Poole Shaffery (defense-side firm news), November 2017: verdict date November 7, 2017, case number BC614908, Judge Michael L. Stern, plaintiff counsel Gary A. Dordick and his $60 million ask, defense counsel for Shabun and DJI, mid-block crossing near LAX in dark clothing, injuries, $31 million gross breakdown, 65 percent comparative fault and roughly $11 million net, DJI's rejected off-the-clock and gas-station-detour defense
- 2.Trellis docket summary: Cesar Octavio Sosa Jr. v. DJI Technology Inc. et al., filed March 25, 2016, personal injury motor vehicle, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Judge Michael L. Stern
- 3.Dordick Law Corporation (firm)
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