Hon. Barbara A. Kronlund, Ret.

Breach of Contract

• Mediated an employment dispute involving a retired police officer who went to work for another police department as an unsworn employee.

Disability Discrimination

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff worked for major automaker in their warehouse for 14 years, taking 28 leaves of absence, sometimes for a full workweek, during her tenure. Plaintiff suffered severe mental illness. Plaintiff was terminated, and she claimed that the automaker discriminated against her primarily based on her disability.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff worked at Defendant warehouse for two years before having a non-work injury which required time off for accommodation. Plaintiff had no work issues, but later hurt his shoulder outside of work, again taking off time. HR put him on extended leave and then determined he had asked for an indefinite leave and HR fired him. Plaintiff sued for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate a disability, failure to engage in interactive process, and wrongful termination.

Discrimination

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was a hotel worker who alleged age discrimination upon being demoted. Defense alleged Plaintiff had history of negative evaluations leading up to her demotion, justifying her termination.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff manager, was a 30-year employee of a corporation and was fired for three no shows/no calls, which violated company policy and was a terminable offense. Defendant used progressive discipline to terminate Plaintiff. Plaintiff himself knew the policy and enforced the policy on those he supervised, but claimed to have a bad back and on the day he was terminated, he submitted a back-dated medical excuse to explain why he missed work. During trial, Defense portrayed Plaintiff as a liar and denied liability.

Sexual Harassment And Retaliation

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff worked as a public safety officer for a private University. She claimed she was wrongly fired for reporting being sexually harassed. She claimed retaliation, discrimination based on her medical leave absence of a year for cancer treatment. Defense alleged they terminated her for abandoning her post, violation of direct orders and dishonesty. Other employees had complained about Plaintiff inappropriately touching them, as well as her lewd comments at work.
• Adjudicated a case involving three consolidated cases with four Plaintiffs alleging sexual harassment and discrimination against Defendant winery and owner. Plaintiff sought punitive damages. All four Plaintiffs were egg shell plaintiffs according to the psychiatric testimony at trial, due to their prior histories.

Whistleblower Wrongful Term

• Adjudicated a case in which an employee of municipal transit district alleged that he was a whistle-blower, and that he was retaliated against along with the other Plaintiff employees, after he complained of various conduct of the transit district to his boss, and reported same to the civil grand jury. Plaintiff alleged he was asked to provide documents to the grand jury, which he did through the two other Plaintiff-employees. All of the involved employees were terminated following the giving of grand jury testimony. Defendant claimed it was a business decision to terminate the three transit employees, based on budgetary concerns.

Wrongful Termination

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff employee claimed that Defendant employer fired him for filing for partial unemployment benefits when work at the shop was slow. But Defense contended they did not know of the filing of the claim for benefits prior to laying off Plaintiff during the slow season, especially since Plaintiff lacked the necessary certifications to do the work that was available. The economy also dipped, so there were too many workers at the firm for the workload according to the Defense.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was an at-will employee working as a maintenance person. He alleged he hurt his back and needed time off work as a reasonable accommodation. Issue was whether he was fired for a temporary disability or other reasons. Defense contended Plaintiff was fired for tardy issues, insubordination, fighting and threatening coworkers, and other reasons. Plaintiff eventually got a doctor’s note but he didn’t turn it in until after he was fired and replaced at work. Coworkers testified Plaintiff was evasive when questioned about his back injury.

Employment Issues

• Adjudicated a case in which a Plaintiff sued RR for cumulative vibration injuries to his whole body, alleging spinal injuries from 36 years as a RR engineer. Defense claimed Plaintiff’s prior auto accident and his riding a Harley motorcycle for years was the cause of his degenerative injuries.
• Adjudicated a case in which Plaintiff was a train man moving train cars when a lever stuck, causing injury to Plaintiff’s arm. Wrist surgery was negligently performed, requiring several more surgeries. Defense alleged nothing was wrong with the train, so there was no liability.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff who was a train engineer, was walking on mainline ballast on the slope to his train after being dropped off by the RR van driver, when he slipped, falling onto his back, twisting his leg, and falling onto his 10-pound grip (duffle bag). Defense argued that engineer Plaintiff should have told the van driver to drop him off elsewhere so he would not walk on mainline ballast.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff, an RR worker, worked at night and stepped into a hole in the yard while switching cars. Plaintiff alleged that there should not have been a hole in the yard, and the extensive lighting project for the yard which was planned, was not completed. Then Plaintiff developed CRPS, chronic pain syndrome, which kept him off work for four years in severe pain. Plaintiff finally returned to work. Defendant contested liability.

Subrogation

• Adjudicated a case involving a complex multi-party three phase trial of construction defect subrogation action. Initial court trial was to determine whether Insurer as complainant in intervention could bring equitable subrogation action, i.e., had standing, and if so, whether next phase would be a court or jury trial. Phase two was a jury trial on the money damage claims against the subcontractor Defendants. Phase three was a court trial on the issue of set- off on any judgments against the subcontractor Defendants.

Medical

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff, an older man, had his gallbladder removed laparoscopically. Doctor cut the wrong section which required reconstructive surgery at a different hospital, followed by an 18-day recovery, and a bile bag on the outside of Plaintiff’s body for a couple of weeks. Thereafter, Plaintiff fully recovered. Defense argued that Plaintiff was fully informed of the surgical risks before the surgery, including the instant surgical error, and signed the Informed Consent.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff arranged for doctor to do hernia repair. Plaintiff received proper informed consent but during the robotic laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon went straight through his small intestine and did not notice it. Two days later Plaintiff was deathly ill from the infection due to bowel leakage and he was rushed to the hospital where he had emergency surgery to replace the mesh to prevent further problems. Defense argued that Plaintiff had informed consent and that the doctor was not negligent.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was a court reporter, who went to her chiropractor for an adjustment. The chiropractor decided to adjust Plaintiff’s hands and ended up giving Plaintiff an avulsion fracture, which was a rare and very painful injury, causing the middle finger to be pulled upward. Defense put on evidence that the chiropractor had done the same adjustment to other patients thousands of times with no injuries.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff sued hospital for malpractice when a nurse put elbow ointment into Plaintiff’s eyes by mistake. While no nurse rinsed Plaintiff’s eyes following the error, Plaintiff asked for and received a wet towel and she wiped her eyes. Liability was admitted, but Defense disputed causation and argued that Plaintiff was not injured.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff suffered from irritable bowel disease and Crohn’s disease. She was mistakenly given a double dose of her strong medication by the hospital pharmacy when Plaintiff renewed her prescription, which over-dosed Plaintiff. Defense admitted liability. Opposing experts for each side disagreed on whether Plaintiff was injured and extent thereof.
• Mediated a case involving nursing home neglect and negligence involving significant bed sores.

Eminent Domain

• Adjudicated a case involving a commercial business property that was taken by the state for a freeway interchange. Battle of the experts presented opposing views of the property’s valuation.

Real Property

• Adjudicated a case in which cross actions were filed in this property dispute. After most of a 100-acre parcel was sold, a dispute arose over the easement to the landlocked parcel in the center, over the road maintenance agreement, and third-party beneficiary issues.
• Adjudicated a case involving cross actions on quiet title, declaratory relief, and trust and lien actions. Issues were fraudulent signing of a grant deed by a relative in Hospice at their bedside, straw man sale due to prior bankruptcies, short sales where a non-relative ended up with house debt- free, and related issues. Plaintiff sought punitive damages.

PI Sexual Assault

• Adjudicated a case in which a bus driver for a school district sexually molested a special-needs child on a school bus on multiple occasions, at least the last of which was captured on the bus’s interior video camera. The child allegedly suffered serious psychological trauma following the sexual abuse, including cutting herself and having severe PTSD and severe acting out behaviors and suicidal thoughts. Plaintiff sought punitive damages. Defendant denied liability.

Civil Rights

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff sued the City, Police Department, and individual Police Officers for violations of his civil rights under police brutality and excessive force claims. Plaintiff claimed to have suffered psychological injuries following the encounter, requiring psychiatric treatment. The Defense alleged Plaintiff had a scale and some drug paraphernalia on him, and unlawfully resisted the officers, providing the probable cause for their arrest and subsequent actions.

General Negligence

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was a jail nurse who lost his license when his attorney failed to competently handle the administrative hearing with the Board of Nursing after the nurse was fired by the County. Plaintiff sought punitive damages. Defendants contested liability.

Personal Injury

• Adjudicated a case involving a Plaintiff who complained about being bullied, and later was seen facing off to fight a much larger boy. Security tried to stop the fight, and Plaintiff ended up punching the bigger boy in the face before running away. Later a teacher who saw the earlier incident, tried to assist security in catching the fleeing Plaintiff, and they both fell to the ground. Plaintiff had a badly bruised or broken tailbone, which took 4-5 months to heal and still hurts in cold weather. The Defendant school district asserted that they did nothing wrong and there was no liability.
• Adjudicated a case involving Plaintiffs, a family of mom, two children and mom’s boyfriend, stayed at a hotel and suffered bed bug bites. Manager was hiding the problem of the bed bugs, instead of treating them. Plaintiffs sought punitive damages. Defense contested liability.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff, an older woman with many health problems, turned a corner at a warehouse store and tripped on a pallet, causing her to fall onto the cement ground. Plaintiff broke a rib and suffered neck strain and knee pain and injured her finger. Defendant contested liability and alleged Plaintiff acknowledged seeing the pallet before tripping on it.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff, an older woman who recently moved to her new home, was walking on the sidewalk when she tripped where a city tree had raised up the sidewalk with its roots. Plaintiff broke her shoulder and needed 2 surgeries, lots of physical therapy, and still has loss of mobility and strength. Plaintiff put on evidence of City’s notice of the dangerous condition. Defense claimed the City did not have notice of the condition.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was at a drug store when as she alleged, a box full up high on a shelf, fell onto her head, injuring her spine. Plaintiff had surgery, with placement of two artificial discs and a fusion of the spine, and was still in pain at the time of trial. Defense alleged the surgery was unnecessary, that time and conservative treatment would have resolved the problem, and each side put on experts.

PI Auto

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was stopped for heavy equipment which was re-graveling the road. A school bus was stopped ahead of Plaintiff, and a teenage driver who lived nearby and was familiar with the road rear-ended Plaintiff. The impact of the collision caused the Plaintiff’s seat to break, causing him to suffer soft-tissue injuries requiring physical therapy. Defense admitted liability but each side presented expert witnesses on causation and extent of injuries.
• Adjudicated a case involving cross actions where Plaintiff sued Defendant for soft tissue personal injuries from an offset rear-end collision, which occurred when Defendant failed to yield right of way and pulled out in front of Plaintiff, causing Plaintiff to rear-end Defendant because she could not stop in time. Defendant sued Plaintiff claiming he had the right of way and that Plaintiff was speeding, therefore causing this collision.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff alleged that during stopped traffic on the highway, Defendant rear-ended him, causing injuries resulting in physical therapy.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff in his Irrigation district truck was stopped for a school bus when a teenage girl rear-ended Plaintiff. Plaintiff suffered soft tissue injuries and had prior injuries and accidents and falls at work.
• Adjudicated a case involving a low impact rear-end collision. Plaintiff was an avid motocross rider who continued to race. Plaintiff alleged long-term low back pain, which defense experts blamed on this motocross activity. Only the issue of general damages went to jury, as specials were paid prior to trial.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was stopped for a red light when an older woman rear-ended her. The only damage was paint-transfer, and each side claimed the other driver was on their cell phone immediately prior to the accident. Plaintiff claimed TBI, disc bulge, loss of job and earning capacity.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was in rush hour traffic on freeway when traffic stopped. Defendant who was next to Plaintiff, swerved suddenly around his lane of stopped cars and rear-ended Plaintiff. The force of the impact caused Plaintiff to spin around 180 degrees. Both involved cars were badly damaged, and Plaintiff suffered soft-tissue injuries to his neck, shoulder, and back.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Defendant rear-ended a college student driver on the freeway in a borrowed compact car. Driver son did not claim injury, but the alleged Plaintiff passenger was his mother, who claimed injury. Prior to the collision, the Plaintiff suffered four aneurysms. Defendant driver alleged no one but the driver was in the vehicle, and the Defense expert testified that the data recorder for the car in which Plaintiff claimed to be a passenger, showed no one was in the passenger seat at the time of the rear-end accident.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was rear-ended by Defendant, who was driving drunk at over twice the legal limit. Initially Plaintiff had some soft-tissue injury, but returned to ironman-type of physical activity, and after a couple of years, alleged he was surgical for his shoulder injury. Defense disputed causation, and used Facebook photos at trial to show how active Plaintiff was after the collision.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff exited freeway and was stopped at a red light when Defendant rear-ended him. Liability was admitted and Plaintiff claimed soft-tissue injury with chiropractic care. Defense disputed the extent of injury and damages.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was an egg-shell plaintiff who was involved in a rear-end pile up on the highway. Plaintiff stopped for traffic ahead, and was hit from behind by Defendant who skidded and totaled his car. Plaintiff alleged she suffered new and “different” low back pain from the current accident, and tried to differentiate her prior back problems from her new ones. Defendant admitted liability, but challenged causation and damages.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was an egg-shell plaintiff who had a history of low back problems, well-documented, including with Workers Compensation records. While a back seat passenger in a luxury car, a car bumped the luxury car resulting in no visible damage. Plaintiff immediately complained of back pain. Defense argued lack of causation and cited Plaintiff’s prior claims of back problems from her teaching job as the actual source of her pain. Defense presented evidence of Plaintiff driving small cars around racetracks, which was her “hobby”, post- accident.
• Adjudicated a case involving a Big rig vs. small passenger car with four occupants. Plaintiffs were in stop and go freeway traffic when a loaded big rig rear-ended them, pushing them into the big rig ahead of them, causing serious spinal injuries to all four occupants. Defense contested liability, claiming Plaintiff first hit the big rig in front of Plaintiff, causing most of their injuries, prior to the Defendant rear-ending Plaintiffs.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was a long-haul trucker in a fully loaded big rig on the freeway in the slow lane. Plaintiff was forced to “jump on his brakes”, but still clipped the back corner of the CHP unit, sending the Officer crashing into two pedestrians, over the embankment, and into a tree. Plaintiff stopped the rig immediately and complained of back and neck pain at the scene. Defense argued Plaintiff had degenerative disc prior to the accident, and a minor prior crash and some chiropractic treatments. Defense admitted liability.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was an egg-shell plaintiff who had serious medical issues prior to being involved in a collision with Defendant. Defendant failed to yield and turned in front of Plaintiff, causing the collision. Defense argued that injuries were preexisting, and that Plaintiff didn’t seek medical treatment of a fusion of her spine for a couple of years post-accident, making causation a key issue.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff, an egg-shell plaintiff, was permanently disabled when he was hit by an older woman who ran a red light. Defendant hit a car before hitting Plaintiff’s car at an angle. Defense argued Plaintiff had preexisting injuries, resulting in his permanent disability finding. Defense challenged causation and damages.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff grandmother was driving her infant grandchild in a car seat on an overpass when Defendant very slowly came into Plaintiff’s lane, side-swiping her car. Defense expert negated Plaintiff’s version, and the Defense presented evidence that Plaintiff had played competitive tennis which caused her a preexisting shoulder injury, unrelated to the accident.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff and Defendant were both driving large pickup trucks in opposite directions going around a curve when they hit. Defense had three experts who testified that Plaintiff’s ankle problem was congenital and unrelated to the accident. Defense also established that Plaintiff had a bad fall at work around the time of the collision, and she was in a very serious car accident in which she broke seven ribs and her leg three years after the current crash, prior to trial.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was in a parking lot when Defendant hit her during a low impact crash on the passenger side of her car. The Defense argued that the Plaintiff’s chiropractor required his patients to be represented by an attorney, and it was brought out that Plaintiff’s chiropractor and attorney shared office space. Defense disputed that Plaintiff was injured at all.
• Adjudicated a case in which Defendant ran a red light and t-boned Plaintiff in Defendant’s work vehicle at high speed. Plaintiff had soft-tissue and back injuries, which resolved in a couple of months. Defense argued that Plaintiff had a congenital back issue so her back issues were not related to the accident.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was a practicing attorney who sued Defendant for a TBI she alleged she received from an accident with Defendant. Plaintiff’s luxury SUV was spun 180 degrees and shoved 25 feet by the impact. Defense presented evidence that Plaintiff’s legal workload was the same before and after the accident, to dispute the TBI claim. Loss of consciousness was disputed at trial, and Defense submitted evidence of Plaintiff’s pre-accident prior history of depression and anxiety.
• Adjudicated a case in which theDefendant failed to yield and caused Plaintiff to collide with Defendant. Liability was admitted, and at trial it was uncontested that Plaintiff needed shoulder surgery. Defense contended that Plaintiff did not get the surgery for four years post-accident and could have mitigated a lot of his pain and suffering it he had the surgery as recommended.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was driving when she was hit by the Defendant who ran a stop sign. Defense admitted liability but contested nature and extent of injuries. Plaintiff received multiple steroid injections, 2 shoulder surgeries, and a disc replacement spine surgery. Defense argued that Plaintiff’s subsequent motor vehicle accident and hopping over a 3-foot fence a month after the accident while being chased by dogs was the cause of her injuries.
• Adjudicated a case involving a low-impact collision with soft-tissue injury and treatment with a chiropractor. Issue at trial was whether the release that Plaintiff signed was valid. The claims adjustor negotiated the release in Spanish a few days after the collision, while she was still treating for her injuries.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was driving at night in the rain on a small residential street when Defendant, who saw Plaintiff coming, pulled out in front of him, failing to yield causing a collision. Just before trial, Defendant claimed for the first time that Plaintiff didn’t have his lights on and was speeding very fast. Liability was admitted at trial.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was involved in a low impact collision in a parking lot with no damage. Plaintiff claimed soft-tissue injury and Defense asserted Plaintiff over-treated with a chiropractor and delayed seeking treatment.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Defendant was driving a pickup truck when Plaintiff stepped on the running board while the truck was in motion. Plaintiff was barefoot and when the pickup was traveling at 20-25 mph, he grabbed the side view mirror which was plastic, and it immediately broke off the truck. Plaintiff was tossed into the road and partially underneath the truck. Plaintiff suffered significant road rash which required an ambulance transport to the hospital.
• Mediated a case involving a crash in dense fog at night of a passenger car into a big-rig, blocking lanes while making a U-turn on the freeway.
• Mediated a case involving a big rig overturning when taking a curve too fast, with the passenger car slamming into it. Both plaintiffs were injured but were eggshell plaintiffs.

PI Bicycle

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was riding a bicycle on wrong side of the road, when he took off at high speed across a drive-way exit. Defendant driver was exiting the parking lot and could not see Plaintiff on the bike because of bushes blocking his view, hitting Plaintiff. The impact caused Plaintiff and his bike to fly into the roadway, resulting in serious, life-threatening injuries to Plaintiff.

PI Motorcycle

• Adjudicated a case involving a Big rig vs. motorcycle crash, where Plaintiff had significant injuries, including broken leg. Defense argued Plaintiff was in his blind spot, causing his own injuries.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff was driving her motorcycle when a dog ran in front of her. Plaintiff lost control of the bike, resulting in serious injuries including a mangled leg that required exterior fixators with surgery including many plates and screws and likely future surgery for removal of hardware. Plaintiff sued the owner of the dog, who alleged that his dog never escaped his home before.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Defense admitted liability in the case where husband and wife hit a black calf in the middle of a dark country road close to midnight. The couple were knocked off their motorcycle upon collision. Sub-rosa video showed the husband and wife having fun with their motorcycle friends and the Defense produced Plaintiffs’ Facebook pages from motorcycle club outings showing both husband and wife having fun with the group post-accident.

Premises Liability

• Mediated a trip and fall case on defendant City property, involving construction defendants and sports league defendants.

Product Liability

• Adjudicated a case involving a Plaintiff who had been a prison inmate dairy worker. When Plaintiff reached into the machine, his jacket sleeve got hooked on a sprocket and a moving chain completely severed and cauterized his hand at the wrist. Other inmates had to use tools to dislodge Plaintiff from the machine. The Defendant alleged that the machine was never maintained and ran 24/7 to produce milk to send to other prison facilities. Defendant manufacturer argued this was now a completely different machine from what it sold, as the prison had presumably altered the safety features with installation of a dangerous bypass valve.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff Insurer paid a street-sweeping company for a fire that started in one of their sweepers on their parking lot overnight. Four cause and origin fire experts testified to different things, each pointing to different origins of the fire. The manufacturer of the sweeper testified it was the placement of the battery cords that they believe caused the fire. Video of the fire was used by the various experts during trial to support their different theories. Defense contested liability.
• Adjudicated a case in which a girl was driving when her car left the freeway hitting a berm, becoming airborne and crashing into a concrete pillar. Decedent died instantly. Defense alleged no defects with the vehicle. Plaintiff heirs alleged a recall of a part was ordered, but the dealer only reset the electronics with a “patch” instead of replacing the defective part, which caused Plaintiff’s steering wheel to lock and the subsequent collision. Defense contested liability.
• Adjudicated a case in which a major automobile manufacturer was sued for product liability due to an offset head-on collision at high speed on a country highway. Plaintiff was rendered paralyzed with head and spinal injuries from the crash. Defense argued that no car design would have resulted in a different more favorable result for Plaintiff. Opposing experts were key to each sides’ case.

Wrongful Death

• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiff, son of victim who was raped and murdered by her grandson while under Parole supervision of Department of Corrections, sued the Department for wrongful death of his mother. Defense denied knowing that the grandson was a danger to the victim and claimed governmental immunity prevented liability.
• Adjudicated a case in which the Plaintiffs were wife and minor children of decedent, who was killed in a collision while riding a motorcycle. Decedent had the right of way, when Defendant older woman in an SUV made a left turn in front of decedent. Visibility studies and reconstructions were presented during trial. Liability was contested.
• Adjudicated a case involving a double fatality accident where a husband and wife were killed by a big rig slamming into them in the roadway while they were outside their car. Issues of the big rig’s speed prior to the accident, and the quality of the big rig video camera and the use of high beams were presented at trial. Defendant denied liability.