Cabral v. Ralphs Grocery Co., No. E044098

In plaintiff's wrongful death suit against the defendant, arising from an accident where a pickup truck driven by plaintiff's deceased husband collided with a tractor-trailer driven by defendant's employee, a jury verdict for plaintiff is reversed and remanded where: 1) as a matter of law, the employee owed no duty to the decedent to avoid stopping in the emergency parking area; 2) the employee's negligence did not proximately cause the accident, and notwithstanding the conclusion that the record does not contain substantial evidence that the employee's negligent act or omission caused plaintiff's injuries, plaintiff cannot recover against defendant based on the facts in the record as a matter of public policy; and 3) the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of plaintiff's expert on causation and as such, the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict.     

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Filed November 10, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Hollenhorst

Counsel

For Appellant:   Bell, Orrock & Watase, Stanley Orrock; Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland, Timothy T. Coates and Lillie Hsu

For Appellee:   Shernoff Bidart Darras Escheverria, Frank N. Darras, Lissa A. Martinez; Donahue and Horrow and Michael B. Horrow