A confidential settlement was reached by Matthew Davis and Joseph Nicholson on behalf of a 69-year-old woman who suffered serious injuries when she was run over by a car as she walked her dog in Sausalito. The defendant driver was clearly at fault, but only carried $100,000 in insurance coverage.
The driver worked as a cook and was driving from one restaurant job to another restaurant where he had a second job. Normally, the “going-and-coming” rule holds that an employer is not legally liable if its employee injures someone while driving to or from work. However, Matt and Joe developed evidence showing that both of the restaurants derived some benefit from the defendant using his car to drive between his jobs, and that one of the restaurants helped underwrite the cost of his commute. Both restaurants contributed to a global settlement of $5.6 million.
