Award Limited to Less Than 4% of Demand in Pedestrian Hit by Company Car Vicarious Liability Case.
Bruce Janssens v. Sal Passalaqua and SCI Funeral Services of Florida, LLC. Matt Gomes, Jessica Burns, and Amy Perdomo (paralegal) tried this case in Volusia County Circuit Court in Daytona Beach, Florida from February 10-13, 2025. Plaintiff alleged negligence and vicarious liability based on an incident where SCI’s employee driving a company car struck and injured a pedestrian crossing the street not at a crosswalk or intersection. The driver consistently said that he never saw the driver crossing the street and admitted having two light beers over three hours at a work function. Plaintiff’s attorney from Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys stated in mediation that his “absolute bottom line” for settlement was $375,000 because a settlement of $20,000 or even $50,000 would not put any money in Plaintiff’s pocket. After mediation, Plaintiff served proposals for settlement in the aggregate amount of $375,000.
Plaintiff put up six experts at trial: two accident reconstructionists/biomechanical engineers; a radiologist; an orthopedist; a lifecare planner; and an economist. Plaintiff dropped his claim for lost earnings and aggravation of a pre-existing shoulder injury and submitted his claims for lower back and bilateral knee injuries to the jury. In closing, Plaintiff’s attorney asked for $52,915.91 in past medical expenses, $108,926 in future medical expenses, plus $750,000 for past and future pain and suffering.
The jury returned a verdict after deliberating for approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes that found Passalaqua negligent, but also found Plaintiff negligent and which apportioned 75% of the fault to Plaintiff. The jury awarded Plaintiff $52,000 for past medical expenses, $70,000 for future medical expenses, $10,000 for past pain and suffering, and $10,000 for future pain and suffering – a total of $142,000. After apportionment, Plaintiff’s share will be $35,500 – less than four percent of what they asked the jury to award.