Jury Awards $3.29 Million After Box Truck Rear-Ends Stopped Motorist at Sacramento Red Light

On June 16, 2015, David Yaffee was sitting in his Acura at a red light in Sacramento when a 26-foot box truck operated by Joseph Skeen, driving on behalf of his employer KLS Transportation, Inc., struck his vehicle from behind. The impact was low-speed, a fact the defense would lean on heavily at trial.

Yaffee felt immediate burning in his back and neck, along with tingling down his right leg. An MRI confirmed a disc herniation at L5-S1. What followed was years of escalating treatment: a microdiscectomy in September 2015, multiple fusion surgeries, a revision procedure to remove scar tissue, and ultimately a spinal cord stimulator. His treating physicians placed him on full medical disability in May 2021, finding him unable to return to work.

The case reached trial in Sacramento County Superior Court in the fall of 2022, more than seven years after the crash. John Demas and Brad Schultz of Demas Law Group, P.C. represented Yaffee. The defense disputed that the relatively minor impact could have caused the cascade of spinal problems Yaffee suffered, and challenged whether the long course of treatment and future care costs were legitimate. Judge James Arguelles presided over the nine-day trial.

The jury rejected the defense arguments. After two days of deliberation, it returned a verdict of $3,299,455, allocated across past and future medical expenses, lost past and future earnings, lost retirement benefits, and pain and suffering. The trial court subsequently added costs and prejudgment interest of roughly $1.65 million. Defendants moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial; both were denied.

The defense appealed, and in December 2024 the California Court of Appeal, Third District, issued a mixed ruling. The awards for past and future lost earnings and future noneconomic damages, totaling approximately $2.12 million, were affirmed. The court reversed the medical-expense portions of the verdict, finding issues with how the trial court had applied the Hospital Lien Act to past medical costs and concluding the evidence did not sufficiently support a permanent dorsal root ganglion stimulator listed among future expenses. Those medical-damages components were remanded for a new trial limited to that issue. The affirmed awards for lost income and pain and suffering remained in place.