$212,500 Settlement for Cyclist Felled by Fresno Drainage Failure

In 2021, Ella Burton was riding her bicycle through the intersection of San Bruno and Contessa avenues in west Fresno when she lost control and fell. The cause was not a vehicle or her own error. Water, mud, and algae had accumulated in the gutter because the city's drainage system was failing at that location, turning a section of the roadway into a slick hazard.

The fall left Burton with a severely broken leg. The injury was serious enough to require extended medical attention and, for her attorney Jesse Fretwell of Freedman Law, to establish clear grounds for a premises liability claim against the city.

Fretwell's investigation revealed that the neighboring homeowner had been reporting the drainage problem to the city for years before the accident. The sediment and organic buildup were a known, recurring issue at the intersection, not an isolated weather event. That record of notice became central to the legal theory: the city had ample time and opportunity to fix the system and did not.

The case settled before trial through private mediation. Both sides presented their risk assessments to a mediator and reached a number that, in Fretwell's words, 'made everybody happy.' The city's share of the settlement was $212,500. The homeowner, also found to bear a portion of responsibility, agreed separately to pay an additional $112,500, bringing the total recovery to $325,000.

Following the settlement, the city repaired the drainage problem at the intersection. The total payout to Burton was $325,000 across both defendants, with the city's $212,500 portion approved through Fresno's risk management fund.