A jury awarded more than $11 million to a motorcyclist who suffered serious injuries following 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,” said plaintiff’s attorney Robert Glassman about the verdict on Friday, March 25, 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,” the lawyer said. “We are thankful the jury got it right and delivered a just verdict based on the evidence and their common sense.”
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 major surgeries on his pelvis and wrist and then was in, for nearly four months, 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.
The DWP alleged that Dillon was driving well over the 35 mph speed limit.
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“Plaintiff had actual knowledge of the condition and particular danger alleged, knew and understood the degree of the risk involved and voluntarily assumed such risk,” the City Attorney’s Office says in its court papers.
But Dillon’s attorneys said a video shows Medina was at fault 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.
