Shtofman

FACTS

In January 1997, Robert Shtofman, a lawyer, purchased a new Mercedes-Benz S420 from Calstar Motors, Inc. (a Mercedes-Benz dealership) for roughly $78,000. In August 2004, after Shtofman had driven his S420 for more than 132,000 miles, he sued Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, Calstar, and Decio Atkinson, a worker in Calstar’s service department. Shtofman’s complaint alleged five causes of action, listed respectively: breach of contract (against Calstar) for failing to repair problems with his vehicle as promised; breach of warranty (against Calstar and Mercedes-Benz); fraud (against all defendants) based upon alleged misrepresentations about the nature of the problems with the vehicle; negligent repair (against all defendants); and negligent hiring and training of service employees (against Calstar). Shtofman’s complaint prayed for compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages. In late 2005, Mercedes-Benz, Calstar and Atkinson filed three separate motions for summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary adjudication of issues (MSAI) of each of Shtofman’s causes of action. At the same time, Shtofman filed a MSAI on his cause of action for breach of…