Lawyers fail to keep wrongful death suit payout under wraps
SM COURTHOUSE — A judge here has made public the settlement terms between J. Paul Getty Trust and a family that levied a wrongful death lawsuit against it, denying Getty lawyers who fought for four months to keep the agreement sealed.
Carlota Navarette and her four daughters will receive a total of $315,000 for an accident that claimed the life of Javier Navarette, who fell to his death at 4 a.m. in November of 2000 while cleaning the windows of the rotunda at the Getty Center.
Frances Campbell, the family’s attorney, will receive another $185,000, court documents show. Getty is responsible for the full $500,000 settlement.
Javier Navarette’s scaffolding-like equipment tipped over and he plunged some 40 feet to the ground below, apparently because the proper safety legs wouldn’t fit in the area he was cleaning.
Lawyers for Getty worked diligently to keep sealed the terms of the settlement. But because two of Navarette’s four daughters are minors, the amounts of their settlements must be approved by a judge, and therefore they became part of the public record.
Guy Gruppie, a Getty lawyer, argued last week before Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Lorna Parnell that it’s of no benefit to the public to release the terms of the settlement. When he was denied, he asked Judge Parnell to send the matter to Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz, the courthouse’s presiding judge.
“This settlement was painstakingly negotiated with confidentiality a key feature,” Gruppie argued in court documents.
“This settlement was painstakingly negotiated with confidentiality a key feature.” — — GUY GRUPPIE Getty lawyer
Parnell declined his request. According to the terms of the settlement, Carlota Navarette will receive $300,000 and each of her daughters will receive $50,000. Of that, a total of $185,000 will be handed over to Campbell. Money for the two minors — Marisela and Alma Navarette — will be put away in a fund that will mature when they turn 18 years old. Alma, now 5, was just 13 months old when her father died.
The Navarettes and Campbell declined to comment, saying it would jeopardize their settlement, which is still protected by a confidentiality agreement. Getty lawyers also declined to discuss the settlement, adding they worked hard to keep it from the public.
At issue in the lawsuit was whether Getty officials should have known the equipment Navarette used to clean the rotunda windows was dangerous. The only way the vertical lift machine could reach the tight space Javier Navarette was working in was without its proper safety supports, Campbell argued.
Campbell said it was impossible to set up the stabilizing legs, which have a footprint of roughly 8 x 8 feet, due to the small area in which the machine was based. They targeted Getty because it supplied the equipment and should have known it was unsafe, according to court documents.
The Navarettes were seeking damages to compensate them for lost wages, funeral and burial costs, lawyer fees, and pain and suffering in the lawsuit. The settlements for Marisela and Alma indicated their $50,000 awards were for
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 12, 2004. Read the original PDF.