Retrial ordered in negligence over crushing injury

An appeals court on Tuesday ordered a retrial in a negligence lawsuit against a fruit company that resulted in a $2.6 million award to a man who was crushed in a forklift accident at a California mandarin orchard.

Jesus Alaniz was a truck driver working for an independent contractor who delivered empty fruit bins to the Sun Pacific Shippers orchard near Fillmore, California, in 2012 when he fell off his truck and had his leg crushed when a forklift ran him over, among other injuries, according to documents in Jesus Alaniz v. Sun Pacific Shippers LP, filed in the Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Six in San Jose, California.

Mr. Alaniz, after filing a workers compensation claim with his employer Navarro Trucking, sued the orchard Sun Pacific, and two other individuals working for other independent contractors, for negligence. The defendants denied that Mr. Alaniz was told to park where he did and brought up expert testimony that acknowledged that he finished his shift before seeking care and that this delay made his injury worse, according to court documents.

A trial court jury eventually ruled in Mr. Alaniz’s favor, assigning 40% responsibility to Sun Pacific, 35% to the other contractors, 15% to Navarro Trucking, and 10% to Mr. Alaniz himself. After reducing the award for workers comp benefits, the trial court awarded Mr. Alaniz $2.6 million for past and future economic and noneconomic losses. It also awarded his wife $131,250 for loss of consortium, according to documents.

Only Sun Pacific moved for a new trial on the basis that “substantial evidence did not support either negligence or premises liability,” and challenged the court’s “failure to give a mitigation of damages instruction and its admission of evidence regarding future medical expenses.” The trial court denied both motions.

On its successful appeal, Sun Pacific contended that the trial court “prejudicially erred” on its jury instructions for establishing negligence or premises liability for independent contractors, among other claims.

In agreement, the appeals court Tuesday wrote as part of its ruling: “The trial court instructed the jury that Sun Pacific was liable if its failure to use reasonable care was a substantial factor in harming Alaniz. … These instructions were erroneous because they did not say that these principles only applied to the hirer of an independent contractor if its negligent exercise of retained control over safety conditions affirmatively contributed to the harm.”