Fixed Ops Journal - February 2020 - F26

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

LEGAL LANE
Calif. Kia store settles with
motorcyclist hurt in crash
A Southern California Kia store has reached
a confidential settlement after a jury awarded
$21,503,420 to a motorcyclist hurt in a crash
caused by a negligent technician.
A jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court
ordered Kia of Irvine to pay damages to Matthew Rada, who suffered catastrophic injuries
when a service customer's 2015 Optima
crashed into his motorcycle on a freeway in
February 2018.
Technician Justin Dimapasac was doing a
road test after repairing the Optima, Rada's
lawyer, Andrew Owen of Los Angeles, told
Fixed Ops Journal. Owen said Dimapasac no
longer works at the store.
Dimapasac testified in a deposition that he
was the sole cause of the crash when he illegally crossed the HOV double parallel boundary lines, failed to signal before leaving the
lane and drove alone in the HOV lane, according to a statement from Owen's law firm.
The Optima struck Rada as it left the HOV
lane on the northbound 405 freeway. The impact sent Rada "careening across three lanes
of traffic and into a passing flatbed trailer,
which then launched him off his motorcycle
and onto the freeway pavement," the statement read.
Kia of Irvine admitted its liability for negligence, and the question for the jury was the
"nature and extent" of Rada's damages, Owen
said. The jury deliberated for two hours at the
end of a three-day trial.
"The parties reached a confidential postverdict settlement that resolves the case in its
entirety," he said.

Tribunal rejects customer's
claim of stolen tools
A service customer who claims tools were
stolen from his truck while it was parked at a
Victoria, British Columbia, dealership isn't
entitled to compensation, the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal ruled.
Murray Steen accused Wheaton Chevrolet-Buick-Cadillac-GMC of negligently leaving his 2013 Chevrolet Avalanche unlocked or,
alternatively, being responsible for an employee's theft of the tools last year. He claimed
the tools had been in a lockbox that could be
opened only with the key fob or with switches
inside the vehicle.
Rejecting the $2,891 claim, tribunal member Trisha Apland said Steen failed to show

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FEBRUARY 2020

However, the judge did dismiss Ramsey's
claims against FCA for negligence and breach
of warranty, finding no "objective evidence"
that the cage's wheels were defective. Only
Ramsey's own "speculation" supported those
claims, he said.

Hyundai store must pay
for faulty work on engine
that the dealership had left the Avalanche unlocked or that the tools were stolen at all.
Steen "provided no witness statements, police evidence or other evidence to corroborate
his claim that he had tools in the lockbox and
that his tools were stolen," she said.
Apland also ruled that the waiver of liability
Steen signed bars his claim. Although he asserted that the waiver "was buried in fine
print," Apland said "it was clearly written and
there to be seen in the same sentence as the
work authorization and on the same page and
section as the signature line."
She added that Steen's decision to not read
the waiver before signing it "does not render it
invalid or inapplicable. The waiver simply
meant he needed to either remove his personal belongings or leave them at his own risk."
Brant Roshinsky, the dealership's general
manager, said warning signs are posted in the
lot.

Truck driver's negligence
suit allowed to proceed
A Waynesboro, Pa., store must defend a
negligence suit by a truck driver who was hurt
while unloading parts he was delivering from
Fiat Chrysler, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner rejected a bid by Buchanan Auto Park to dismiss
the suit filed by Frank Ramsey Jr. The store
sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles.
According to the Jan. 14 decision, Ramsey
was pushing a wheeled cage filled with parts
in September 2014 when the wheels hit a
short shallow ditch and started tilting. He
claims he got injured while jiggling the cage
free from the ditch.
His suit accuses the dealership of negligence for maintaining an unsafe premises.
The store denies liability and argues that
Ramsey's behavior in shaking the wheeled
cage was the ultimate cause of his injuries.
Conner ruled that a jury should decide that
question at trial.

A British Columbia dealership has been hit
with a $4,701 (Canadian) award of damages
for its faulty repair work on a replacement engine.
The province's Civil Resolution Tribunal issued the judgment in favor of service customer Michael Pennock, who claimed Kamloops
Hyundai damaged the transmission of his
2013 Santa Fe while doing warranty work in
late 2018.
Dealer principal Anthony Muzzillo said
there will be no appeal.
Nine days after Pennock picked up the Santa Fe from the store, he found that the crossover had little traction because of problems
with the all-wheel drive, according to the Nov.
4 decision by tribunal Vice Chair Andrea
Ritchie. He took it to a different dealership,
which replaced the awd rear coupling, but the
problem persisted.
Pennock returned to Kamloops Hyundai,
where a diagnostic test showed that the cause
was severe spline damage. He was told to replace the transmission.
Kamloops Hyundai denied responsibility
and attributed the problem to wear and tear.
But Ritchie's ruling in favor of the customer
cited evidence from a longtime Red Seal mechanic who blamed the transmission failure
on negligence by dealership employees
"during the assembly stage of the engine replacement."
In the mechanic's expert opinion, there was
"a misalignment of the internal components
of the transmission and transfer case during
the assembly stage of the engine replacement,
while the two components' housings were
bolted together," the decision said. "During
an engine disassembly, a technician would
have thoroughly inspected the components
and would have noticed if there was any noticeable signs of 'normal wear.' "
The damages cover Pennock's expenses for diagnostic testing and transmission replacement.
- Eric Freedman
foj@autonews.com

Fixed Ops Journal - February 2020

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