In the matter of Anaya vs. General Equipment & Supplies, Inc., et al., (LASC Case No. BC 594187) our trial Judge, the Hon. Michelle Williams Court, recently denied Defendant, General Equipment & Supplies, Inc.’s, motion for new trial and also denied the defense motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). The court issued an 11-page ruling confirming that “substantial evidence” supported the jury’s $30M verdict in favor of our clients and crushing any of the defendant’s hopes for a successful appeal.
Yesterday, we appeared in Court on the defendant’s motion to tax costs. Our trial Judge further ruled that the statutory offer to compromise that we served on behalf of our clients the year prior to trial entitled our clients to an additional $1,626,837.20. The interest on the judgment of tens of millions of dollars is now accruing at an amount of approximately $180,000.00 per month.
This case presents a classic example of what happens when corporations and their insurers take ridiculous positions regarding a settlement. Just prior to trial, we received an email from the lawyer for General Equipment & Supplies, Inc., advising us that the company was willing to offer an absurdly low $250,000.00 to resolve the case and that the offer was their “last, best and final.” This matter, a product liability case, involved the death of the father of three children. The father was crushed to death in a conveyor that the defense admitted had no interlocks or emergency stop mechanism on the conveyor for the worker to save himself if he made inadvertent contact with the equipment. For further case details, please refer to the Law360 coverage here:
General Equipment & Supplies, Inc., purchased over $11 Million worth of insurance coverage from Sentry Insurance for these types of occurrences, but for some ridiculous reason, Sentry Insurance offered only $250,000.00 of that sum to resolve this case. Now General Equipment & Supplies, Inc., will pay a heavy price for their insurance company’s absurd and unjustified case evaluation. The prejudgment interest alone of $1.6M awarded to our clients yesterday was six times more than the defendant’s “last, best and final” offer to resolve the entire case.
The product liability lawyers at Shoop | A Professional Law Corporation are preeminent product lawyers. If you or a loved one has been catastrophically injured by way of use or interaction with a defective product, call our experienced team of professionals for a free of cost, initial case evaluation to discuss your legal rights.
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