Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP

$15.8M

Wrongful Death, Personal Injury

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP partner Robert Glassman and firm attorney Erika Contreras have obtained a $15,750,000 settlement from the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District for the mother of 13-year-old Adilene Carrasco who suffered an asthma attack at school and died as a result of the district’s failure to follow its own safety protocols. This is believed to be the largest asthma-related death settlement in California.

$20.5M

Wrongful Death, Auto Accident, Government Liability

On July 30, 2015, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Rahul Ravipudi, Deborah Chang, Tom Schultz and Matthew Stumpf obtained a $20,500,000 jury verdict for the mother of a high school student who was killed while walking to a bus stop in Fontana, California. The verdict followed the trial court’s finding that the Chaffey Joint Union School District hid evidence in an attempt to avoid responsibility for the tragic collision. On December 6, 2010, 15-year old student, Jin Ouk Burnham was walking to a school bus stop that required him to cross an uncontrolled, five-lane highway in violation of state law when he was hit by a vehicle whose driver said she did not see him. He died 15 days later. During the litigation, the School District hid evidence and misrepresented facts regarding the location of the available bus stops, resulting in significant issue sanctions being ordered by the trial judge. Despite the School District’s attempt to place blame for the accident on Jin and the driver, the San Bernardino Superior Court jury assigned 100% liability for the accident on the School District. During closing arguments, the School District’s attorney claimed that the relationship between Jin and his mother, who had finalized his adoption a year before his death, was worth only $1,500,000. “Although the school district attempted to cover up what happened, we fought for the truth and the truth prevailed.” said attorney Rahul Ravipudi.

$23.5M

Wrongful Death, Government Liability

In May 2017, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Brian Panish, Rahul Ravipudi and Robert Glassman obtained a landmark $23,500,000 settlement on behalf of the family of a 19-year-old non-verbal autistic student who tragically died aboard a Whittier school bus after the driver left him behind to engage in a sexual tryst with a coworker. The Plaintiffs were also represented in the case by Sang “Nathan” Yun of the Yun Law Firm. On the morning of September 11, 2015, Hun Joon “Paul” Lee boarded a Pupil Transportation Cooperative (PTC) school bus carrying two additional special needs students and traveled to Sierra Vista Adult School in Whittier, California. The driver, Armando Ramirez, distracted by text messages from his lover, failed to ensure that Paul had exited the bus at his destination. Mr. Ramirez then returned the bus to the yard, oblivious to the fact that the nearly six-foot and over 300 pound young man was still aboard, and quickly exited to meet his lover for a sexual tryst without first performing his required child check and post-trip sweep of the bus. When Paul failed to return home from school, his mother notified the Whittier Union High School District and his lifeless body was found inside the sweltering school bus. Text messages and deposition testimony from the bus driver and his lover confirm that while the two were engaged in their affair, Paul remained trapped on the parked bus for hours, unable to escape on one of the hottest days of the year.

$11M

Wrongful Death, Government Liability

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Brian Panish, Rahul Ravipudi and Robert Glassman represented Sabrina and Rodriquez Pierce against the Murrieta Valley Unified School District following the wrongful death of their son, Alex, a 7th grade student who drowned in June 2016 while participating in a school sponsored end-of-year swim party with his classmates. The students were under the direct supervision of Murrieta Valley Unified School District staff and personnel who chaperoned the outing as well as Murrieta Valley High School student lifeguards who were “on duty” watching over the kids as they swam. As children swam around him, 13-year-old Alex slipped under the water and to the bottom of the pool where he remained for nearly two minutes with no rescue efforts by lifeguards, school district faculty or personnel. Instead, it was Alex’s classmates who made rescue efforts to retrieve him as no other school district faculty or personnel dove into the water to assist. The on-site lifeguards did not perform CPR on Alex, which allowed precious minutes to pass before he was attended to by paramedics from the Murrieta Fire Department. Alex was taken to a nearby hospital and, due to the severity of his injuries, he was airlifted to a second hospital where he was placed on life support and in a coma for more than 30 days until he was declared brain dead during a final test by doctors.

$10M

Wrongful Death, Government Liability

On December 7, 2012, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys obtained a $10 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case involving three-year old Kevin Cisler who was strangled to death in 2011 while on a bus ride home from preschool. The lawsuit was brought against the Capistrano Unified School District (“CUSD”) by Kevin’s parents, Melissa and Daniel Cisler, and was tried in the Orange County Superior Court. The Cislers were represented at trial by Brian Panish and Tom Schultz. As a baby, Kevin had been diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome which left him with limited mobility and speech. Despite his special needs, Kevin was a joyful child who was beloved by his parents and extended family. Kevin’s parents wanted to ensure Kevin the best life possible so he was enrolled in a special education preschool where he could receive therapy. As part of the program, the CUSD was to provide Kevin with safe transportation to and from preschool in a school bus equipped for a child in a wheelchair, which Kevin was required to use. Despite the CUSD ensuring Kevin’s parents that he would only be transported by experienced drivers, on March 25, 2011, CUSD employees failed to properly secure Kevin into his wheelchair. They also positioned Kevin’s wheel chair directly behind the bus driver’s seat where he could not be seen. Because the chest harness, lap belt and pummel needed to keep Kevin safely in his seat had not been properly secured, during an almost hour long bus ride, Kevin slid down in his chair until the chest harness was around his neck and obstructed his airway. The weight of his body and the position of the chest harness caused Kevin to slowly asphyxiate and, because he was positioned behind the driver, the driver failed to one notice that he was in distress. Kevin’s condition was only discovered when a parent who had boarded the bus to retrieve her own child saw Kevin slumped over in his chair. During discovery in the case, it was learned that the driver who transported Kevin the day he died had been working as a school bus driver for only three weeks, had no prior work experience that would qualify him to drive special needs children, and that in his three weeks as a bus driver, he had only transported two other individuals in wheelchairs, neither who required safety devices to help keep him in their wheelchair seats. Despite overwhelming evidence available early in the case, the CUSD refused to admit fault in Kevin’s death for 18-months and did not apologize for their negligence. After admitting that it’s negligence caused Kevin’s death, the CUSD took the position prior to trial that the value of Kevin’s life and the loss suffered by his parents should somehow be “discounted” because of Kevin’s developmental disability. The jury’s eight-figure verdict makes clear that they under the profound loss Kevin’s suffered as a result of his death.

$3M

Dangerous Condition of Public Property, Brain Injury

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Rahul Ravipudi, Deborah Chang and Tom Schultz obtained a $3 million settlement for the family of a young girl who suffered a traumatic brain injury after forcibly striking her head on the concrete. The 10-year-old student was running from the parking lot to the school to retrieve some candy bars for a fundraiser when she was “clothelined” by an undetectable steel cable, catapulted backwards, and landed with great force on her back - causing the back of her head to strike the cement. Defense conceded Plaintiff was not negligent at the time of the incident and admitted liability and causation in this case but disagreed with Plaintiff on the nature and extent of her injuries and damages.