Plaintiffs: Time not on their side
By JAMIE WETHERBE Special to the Daily Press
SM COURTHOUSE — A civil trial here involving two people who sued the government because they fell into a manhole on a West Los Angeles sidewalk amounted to one lesson — watch where you are going.
Testimony from the plaintiffs — Avraham Gottesman and Barbara Bubar — revealed that they didn’t see the uncovered manhole before they fell in. They argued it was Los Angeles County’s fault because it didn’t cover or mark the potential hazard.
But Gregory Houle, the attorney for LA County, said it’s not the government’s responsibility to ensure that people use caution when walking on a public street. After all, Gottesman was reading the sports page and drinking a cup of coffee when he fell into the hole and sprained his knee. Minutes later, Bubar broke her ribs and shoulder blade after getting out of a car, then “disappearing” up to her chest in the same hole.
Gottesman sought more than $68,000 for medical bills, and pain and suffering. Bubar sought more than $400,000.
A Santa Monica jury last week took nine hours to rule that while an open manhole can represent a foreseeable risk, Los Angeles police couldn’t respond in time to protect the plaintiffs from injury.
They said officials didn’t have enough time to cover the manhole before the pedestrians took the plunge — releasing the county from claims of almost $500,000 from the two plaintiffs.
“I thought it was an appropriate verdict,” Houle said. “I think it’s common sense to pay attention where you’re going.”
The two citizens separately walked into the same manhole Dec. 31, 2001 on Beverly Boulevard in West Los Angeles. The manhole, one plaintiff said, was only two minutes from a sheriff’s station.
The plaintiffs thought they could prove the sheriff’s department had enough notice, attorneys argued.
Attorneys for the pair, whose complaints were tried together, argued that LA County didn’t respond quickly enough to the report of the missing manhole cover. The first documented call to notify the county about the hazard came in at 9:35 a.m.
Gottesman fell in about that time and Bubar went in about 10 minutes later. The plaintiffs argued that there had been prior unlogged calls to report the open manhole, allowing the county ample time to respond.
But jurors didn’t see it that way. “I don’t agree with this decision, but I respect it,” said Armond Marcarian, the attorney for Bubar. This case “wasn’t about injuries, but about sufficient time to respond.”
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Richard Neidorf oversaw the week-long trial.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 21, 2004. Read the original PDF.