Montezpalos
Montezpalos v. Star Rooter and Plumbing CA1/5
Opinion
Opinion
Burns, J.
BACKGROUND
A.
On April 25, 2019, Javier Figueroa Gutierrez was driving a truck owned by Star Rooter, on Interstate 880, when he looked down at his cell phone, failed to stop, and hit Montezpalos’s vehicle. One of the owners of Star Rooter, Juan Coronado, gave Gutierrez (who was never an employee of Star Rooter) permission to drive the truck.
B.
In April 2021, Montezpalos sued Gutierrez and Star Rooter. In her form complaint she checked boxes indicating that she was alleging “[m]otor [v]ehicle” and “[g]eneral [n]egligence” causes of action. With respect to her negligence cause of action, she alleged that Gutierrez and Star Rooter “negligently owned, maintained, controlled, operated, and/or otherwise entrusted Defendant’s vehicle so that the same collided into another vehicle operated by [Montezpalos]. [Montezpalos] sustained major bodily injuries as a result of Defendant’s negligence.”
A year later, Montezpalos served an offer to compromise (Code Civ. Proc., § 998) for $100,000 on Gutierrez. Gutierrez timely accepted the offer. Montezpalos obtained a separate judgment against Gutierrez, who is not a party to this appeal.