Some jurors disagree with injured woman’s award
By Daily Press staff
The Jonathan Beach Club of Santa Monica won a victory of sorts in court Thursday when a jury sharply sliced the amount it was willing to award a Woodland Hills woman for a slip-and-fall mishap there in mid-2001.
“I saved $100,000 for my client,” said attorney Rhett Warriner, who represented the club. He said the case went to trial because the woman, Gayle Lichtig, a designer, demanded $175,000 through her lawyer. The club was willing to pay only $50,000, arguing she was mostly responsible for the accident.
The jury award, for about $74,750, came because the panel dampened the amount it earmarked for pain and suffering while also deciding Lichtig was 40 percent responsible for the accident.
Both sides could claim victory. But while Lichtig technically won, her lawyer, David Drexler, was left to ask jurors outside the courtroom why they had settled on such a small amount. Warriner said the Jonathan Club felt gratified by the “sensibility and conservatism” of Santa Monica juries.
Lichtig’s fall occurred at a graduation party for the Campbell Hall school on June 1, 2001 at the club, located on Santa Monica Beach. The auto sprinkler system, which had apparently been malfunctioning, came on mid-party, causing some of the outdoor steps to become slippery. Lichtig, a guest at the party, claimed the club should have taken steps to warn patrons. The club claimed Lichtig should have watched her step.
The case became a made-to-order jury trial when the two sides couldn’t settle. At the trial, Drexler asked for a total of $300,000 for his client, noting she had sustained $60,000 in medical bills and another $15,000 in lost earnings, and that her injury was infected, painful, and gruesome.
In the end, ironically, that was what the jury awarded. It agreed to $124,560 in economic and non-economic damages. But by assigning 40 percent of the blame to Lichtig, it awarded her only about $74,750. The result left the nominal losing attorney happier than the man who had technically won.
Two of twelve jurors disagreed with the verdict, feeling the amount given Lichtig was too low.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.