Magallon v. Castlerock Environmental Los Angeles County, Santa Monica Courthouse Hon. Chester Horn
Date of Verdict: June 13, 2016 Total of Verdict: $9,248,302.44
Marla Magallon was a 57-year-old single woman who was employed by Warner Brothers as a set cleaner. She worked the night shift. Early in the morning, she was leaving her shift and crossing the street when a car being driven by Eduardo Silva made a left turn and ran her over. She suffered a broken neck – an injury to her spinal cord, which gave her weakness in all four limbs, and residual nerve pain. Silva had a $15,000.00 policy but was in employee for Castlerock. He was dispatched by Castlerock to Warner Bros. lot to cleanup a water leak on a soundstage. Silva was leaving the job site in his personal vehicle and heading home. The company took the position that he was off the clock and therefore not in the scope of employment and that the “going and coming rule” applied. They denied that having a car was a condition of employment. Mr. McElroy argued that the vehicle use exception applied even though Silva was not required to have a car for his job. The jury rejected the defendant’s position and found that Silva’s car provided a benefit to his employer and he was therefore in the scope of his employment at the time of the collision. The judgment entered against Castlerock was in excess of $10,000,000.00.