Orange County Partners Charles L. Harris and Justin S. Kim recently obtained a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of their client, a national home improvement company, following an in-person jury trial in Orange County, California. The plaintiff alleged that he was struck by a roll of old carpet that was thrown out of a second story window by our client's subcontractor, who was working at the plaintiff's home at the time of the alleged incident. The plaintiff argued that our client was negligent and sought to hold our client liable for the subcontractor's negligence under a theory of vicarious liability.
The plaintiff alleged that the roll of carpet weighed approximately 200 pounds and that he sustained injuries to his head, neck, shoulders, and back and underwent multiple surgeries, including cervical fusion surgery, as a result of being struck by the carpet. We took the position that the plaintiff was not struck by the roll of carpet as he alleged.
The court bifurcated the trial between liability and damages. Following one hour of deliberations at the liability stage, the jury unanimously found that our client was not negligent.
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