Johnson v. Tosco Corp.

By a complaint filed on January 21, 1988, in the Superior Court of Contra Costa County, Michael S. Johnson (hereafter Johnson) and his wife, Minnie L. Johnson (hereafter collectively respondents), brought this action for personal injury and loss of consortium against Tosco Corporation (hereafter Tosco) and certain other defendants, who were later dismissed. The jury returned a special verdict finding that Tosco was negligent, that its negligence was a proximate cause of Johnson’s injury, and that Johnson suffered damages as a proximate result of the negligence in the amount of $1,029,904 and Minnie Johnson suffered damages for loss of consortium of $50,000. The jury further found that Johnson was negligent and ascribed to him 40 percent of the total negligence. On January 18, 1990, the court entered a judgment awarding Johnson damages against Tosco in the amount of $617,942.40 and Minnie Johnson damages of $30,000. Tosco filed a timely notice of appeal.

Johnson, age 38, claims damages for injuries suffered in a fall from a single-stage scaffolding at the Tosco Oil Refinery in Martinez, California. A trade union insulator from Phoenix, Arizona, he enjoyed full union…