$47.5 Million Settlement for Boy Crushed by Rotten Tanoak at San Mateo County Campground

In the early morning of July 25, 2012, a 72-foot tanoak tree collapsed onto a tent at campsite D-1 in San Mateo County Memorial Park. The tree, hollowed at its base by Armillaria fungus and carrying a 30-inch void in its stump, struck a sleeping 12-year-old boy with full force. The impact crushed him.

Doctors determined that saving his life required a hemipelvectomy, the removal of his right leg, right buttock, and a portion of his pelvis. He spent more than six months in the hospital and went through more than 30 surgeries. The family had paid a $50 camping fee to use the county site.

Timothy Tietjen of Rouda, Feder, Tietjen and McGuinn led the litigation across six years. The case named four defendants: San Mateo County as the park's owner and operator; Davey Tree, the tree-inspection contractor the county had hired in 2007; Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which held a utility license for power lines approximately 37 feet from the tree; and Western Environmental Consultants (WECI), PG&E's vegetation management contractor.

Both the county and PG&E sought immunity before trial. The California Court of Appeal rejected both claims in opinions issued in April and July 2017. The county's argument, that natural-condition immunity shielded it from liability, failed because triable facts existed about whether the developed campsite was truly unimproved property. PG&E's recreational-use immunity argument failed because the family had paid consideration to enter the park, which the court held voided immunity for all parties regardless of who collected the fee.

With those defenses cleared, the case proceeded toward trial. Following two days of mediation in 2018, the county and Davey Tree settled for $30 million. PG&E and WECI settled separately for $17.5 million, with WECI bearing that entire amount. The combined $47.5 million pretrial settlement was reported at the time as the largest for a single plaintiff in California personal injury history.