|
Spanking Victim Slaps Insurer for Unpaid Award |
 |
The California woman who won a $1.7 million jury award for being spanked at work has now slapped her former employer's liability insurer with a $5.6 million breach-of-contract suit for refusing to pay a post-verdict settlement.
“Of course I'm angry and frustrated,” Janet Orlando said of the unusual development in her legal saga. “The stress is killing me.”
A jury in May found Alarm One, Inc. liable for the spankings Orlando received from supervisors as part of a misguided effort to build camaraderie in the company's Fresno office where she worked as a saleswoman. After Alarm One appealed, Orlando agreed to a reduced award of $1.4 million.
But according to her new complaint, the company and its insurer, Carolina Casualty, have not honored the agreement, refusing to pay “in order to negotiate a lesser settlement payment and in order to gain leverage over Orlando [in] any further settlement negotiations.”
Plaintiff's counsel Nicholas “Butch” Wagner told the Fresno Bee that Alarm One wanted another $200,000 to $400,000 knocked off the award. "They tried to talk us into a lesser settlement," he said. "We said, 'You're out of your mind.'"
Orlando is seeking the $1.4 million settlement amount, 10 percent interest on the settlement and $4.2 million in punitive damages from Carolina Casualty and its claims adjuster, Monitor Liability Managers.
One attorney said attempts to renege on a settlement are "very unusual." Maybe Alarm One just wants to get the award a bit closer to $150,000 –- the amount of a pre-trial settlement offer that Orlando rejected.
|
Other Spanking Case Sources
|
By Matthew Heller
12/18/06
A jury should decide whether two Texas Rangers pitchers “substantially assisted or encouraged” a teammate who hurled a chair into the stands during a brawl, hitting an Oakland A's fan in the face, a California judge has ruled.
The injured fan, Jennifer Bueno, sued alleged chair thrower Frank Francisco and the two other players for battery and assault after the Sept. 13, 2004 melee at the Oakland Coliseum. Bueno's husband, who was sitting in a field box, had been heckling a Rangers relief pitcher.
Doug Brocail and Carlos Almanzar claim they cannot be held liable as aiders and abettors because they had no idea Francisco was going to throw a chair and did not assist or encourage him in doing so.
But in a Dec. 7 order, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch found a triable issue of fact and denied the players' motion for summary judgment. The case is set for trial Jan. 12.
Brocail, now with the San Diego Padres, allegedly charged into the stands and, within a few feet of Bueno, cocked his fist “as if he were going to throw a punch, only to be restrained by others from completing his assault.”
“The end result was that Francisco accomplished what Brocail set out to do,” Bueno's lawyers argue in a brief.
Roache also allowed co-plaintiff Andre Vernan, who claims he injured his back trying to dodge the flying chair, to proceed to trial.
|
UPDATE ... The parties announced a settlement of all claims Jan. 12, the day set for trial. Terms are confidential.
|
By Matthew Heller
12/18/06
|