February 28, 2004
In an unusual negligence case, a jury ordered the Mormon church to pay $1.18 million to a man who lost his foot in a mower accident 19 years ago.
What made the case noteworthy was that the person who ran over the plaintiff's right foot, virtually amputating its front portion, was his father.
The father was an employee of the church. On April 13, 1985, he was mowing the lawn in front of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 82nd Street and Holmes Road. As he was backing the riding mower around a tree, his 5-year-old child darted into his field of vision. The father was unable to stop in time.
"We treated this as a simple negligence case," said the plaintiff's lawyer, Vic Bergman of Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman." The question for the jury was how in the world it could be that a 5-year-old boy playing on an open lawn in front of the church could have his foot run over by an employee of the church.
"The defendant took the position that since his son was there and wasn't well-supervised, this was a case of parental negligence and only parental negligence and that it had nothing to do with their employee."
Berman said he likened the case to Toto pulling the curtain back in "The Wizard of Oz" to reveal the wizard.
"I told the jury that the defendant was saying, 'Pay no attention to that man who happens to be our own employee'," he said.
The seven-person jury in federal court in Kansas City awarded the plaintiff, Lamoni Riordan of Grants Pass, Ore., $420,000 for his pain and suffering and the rest for past and future medical expenses. The future expenses included money for surgery Riordan needs to make use of advanced prosthetics - surgery that would require his right leg to be amputated below the knee.
"If you separate out the emotional confusion that goes with the fact that his father was involved, and you go with the law that says the defendant caused or contributed to the damages, there's no reason Lamoni should have any less rights than any other child," Bergman said.
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
STAR BUSINESS WEEKLY
Legal Affairs
Page 19
By Dan Margolies
To reach Dan Margolies, legal affairs reporter, call
(816)234-7740 or send e-mail to dmargolies@kcstar.com
