Facts

In February 2021, Plaintiffs Fanlong Meng (father), Yan Shen (mother), and their two minor children were crossing the street in a crosswalk when they were struck by a Nissan Leaf driven by defendant Devinder Bhathal while she was making a left turn. The vehicle plowed into all four people.

The father suffered severe injuries, including a rib fracture, shoulder fracture, and a mild traumatic brain injury. The mother also sustained bruises and knee injuries.

The children, a 9-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl, sustained a fracture pelvis requiring surgery and cuts and bruises, respectively.

After the collision, Defendant told the police that the sun was in her eyes, and that a pillar inside her car had blocked her view of all four pedestrians.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that the father's mild traumatic brain injury caused him to lose his director-level position at JD.com, forcing him to take a software engineer position that paid half of what he was making before the collision. Even at that position, he alleged he had to work additional hours to compensate for his cognitive impairments.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant disputed that her vehicle hit all four Plaintiffs. She also disputed the severity the father's brain injury, claiming that he was never diagnosed with a concussion at the hospital. Defendant also disputed the wage loss claim, claiming that the father was laid off from his prior employer not due to his performance issue and that his current job offered more overall compensation. Defendant also disputed the severity of the rest of the family's injuries, including discounting the emotional distress claims from witnessing the entire family getting hit by the car, as well as the mother's bilateral knee injuries, pointing to the delay in getting medical treatment.

Insurer

Farmers Insurance

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiffs made the policy limit demand of $1.5 million before the lawsuit was filed. Farmers insurance pre-lawsuit offer was $200,000 to the father, $300,000 to the son, $26,597 to the mother, and $7,273 to the daughter. After the lawsuit was filed, the case went to mediation with Hon. Bonnie Sabraw of ADR. After the mediation, Defendant accepted the son's CCP 998 offer for $500,000 but rejected the rest of the family's CCP 998 offers. At the mandatory settlement conference held by Hon. Jo-Lynn Lee on May 7, 2024, Defendant tendered the rest of the policy limit of $1 million to the remaining Plaintiffs.

Specials in Evidence

$66,714 (father); $89,105 (son); $21,208 (mother); (daughter waived). $702,313. $10 million. $1 million (father); $50,000 (mother).

Injuries

The father suffered a left rib fracture, a left shoulder fracture, and a mild traumatic brain injury. The mother suffered bruises on the left hip, bilateral knee cartilage lesions, and emotional distress. The son suffered a pelvis fracture and emotional distress. The daughter suffered cuts, bruises, and emotional distress.

Result

The case settled for $1.5 million.