Settlement Amount:
$10,500,000 structured settlement in addition
to $375,000 cash

Case Name:
STEVEN RICHARDSON, a minor by Carol Richardson,
Guardian ad Litem v. THE COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT

Case Number:
Humboldt County Superior Court, Case No. 66749

Plaintiff:
Steven Richardson, a minor by Carol Richardson,
Guardian ad Litem

Defendant:
The County of Humboldt (California)

Facts and Background:
On May 26, 1979, Steven Richardson, five
years old, fell through a gap on the floor of the Honeydew Bridge
which crosses the Mattole River near the Honeydew Store in
Honeydew, California. Steven Richardson was standing on the wheel
guard which is parallel to the railings on the side of the
bridge, and eyewitness testimony established that his feet
slipped off the wheel guard while he was holding the handrail of
the bridge and he fell through the space between the floor of the
bridge and the horizontal guardrail. He landed on the rocks of
the riverbed, 50 feet below, and sustained severe head injuries.
He was diagnosed as suffering from multiple skull fractures,
including a depressed left frontoparietal skull fracture with
dural lacerations, cerebral contusions, intracerebral hematoma
and a left parietal fracture of the proximal shaft of the left
femur.

Plaintiff’s Contentions:
Suit was filed on February 26, 1980 alleging that the County of
Humboldt negligently designed and constructed modifications to
the Honeydew Bridge, which had originally been built in 1920, and
that such modifications created an unreasonable risk of injury to
pedestrians using the bridge.

Defendant’s Contentions:
Defendant contended the County of Humboldt was immune from
liability for any alleged negligence incident to the 1975
modification of the Honeydew Bridge because California Government
Code §830.6 conferred "design immunity" status upon them. They
further argued they were not liable for plaintiff’s injuries
under §835 of the Government Code because plaintiff had failed to
establish either constructive or actual notice of the dangerous
conditions.

The trial court denied defendant’s summary judgment motion and
held that the design immunity statute would not apply because the
evidence did not establish that the Board of Supervisors of
Humboldt County were informed of the effect of the modifications
of the bridge upon pedestrian safety. The court further held that
the 1975 design, as conceived and executed, contemplated that
pedestrians would step "behind the wheel guard" or to the edge of
the bridge and that the bridge was not sufficiently designed to
have pedestrians near its edge. The court further held that the
County had actual knowledge, through its employees, of the effect
of the design in regard to pedestrians being forced to the
bridge’s edge.

Damages:
Steven Richardson suffered significant loss of brain tissue in
the dominant hemisphere resulting in significant speech
difficulties, understanding and learning deficits, permanent
spastic paralysis of his right arm and leg and partial loss of
vision to the right of midline. Language, reasoning and
perceptual skills were markedly diminished and medical opinion
established that the plaintiff would function at substantially
below average in most cognitive areas.