Attorneys for Trader Joe’s are asking a judge for a new trial after a jury awarded more than $23.5 million to a Modesto neonatal physician who fell on a slippery floor in its Dale Road store.
Dr. Zahra Gharraee was awarded the amount in October by a Stanislaus County jury because of an incident that happened about five years ago.
According to court documents, she suffered a traumatic brain injury after slipping on water near a refrigerated case.
Gharraee testified the injury has prevented her from working in her chosen speciality, which is focused on the care of premature newborns. She explained that, among other problems, she no longer has the dexterity to thread a catheter into the tiny hole in the umbilical cord of a baby.
A motion for a new trial is set to be heard for Dec. 16 in Stanislaus Superior Court.
In their motion, attorneys for Trader Joe’s accused Gharraee’s attorney of misconduct, arguing he played on the jury’s emotions during trial. The defense also believes the judge made incorrect rulings on objections to parts of the plaintiff’s closing arguments, the admission of some evidence and the preclusion of other evidence.
Gharraee’s attorneys have denied those claims.
Plus, the defense is asking the court to reduce the award amount, if a new trial isn’t granted.
Defense says award is excessive
The motion for a new trial focused on the damage award, calling the liability evidence “close.” The jury voted 10-2 that Trader Joe’s was at fault and 9-3 that Gharraee was not at fault. The verdict requires at least 9 of the 12 jurors to agree.
The damage award was 12-0 in favor of Gharraee and included $4.8 million for past and future earnings, calculated by how much less she would earn over time because of the injury, based on her $430,000 annual salary at the time of the fall, according to settlement conference statements and other court documents filed by both parties.
The jury awarded $18.7 million for non-economic damages encompassing the personal impacts of the injury upon Gharraee. That includes loss of job satisfaction that came from helping newborns in distress, which she testified about.
Gharraee’s attorneys made progressively lower offers to settle the case, beginning in January 2024 with $26.3 million. That dropped to $19.7 million in July this year and finally to $9.7 million in late August, shortly before the beginning of the three week trial.
Trader Joe’s first offer to settle was for $20,000 and later increased to $200,000, according to court documents.
Emotions played role in trial, says defense
Attorneys for Trader Joe’s have argued misconduct, saying Gharraee’s attorney told a story that impermissibly played to the emotions of the jury, resulting in the large damage award.
Sebastian Kaplan, the attorney representing Trader Joe’s, wrote in the new trial motion that Gharraee’s attorney Harry Nalbandyan used a story about a premature newborn to play on the jurors’ emotions.
In response to the claim of misconduct, Nalbandyan countered that Gharreea’s testimony was about a real event and the reason she sought the medical speciality.
During the trial, Gharrreea testified she was working at Stanford Children’s Hospital when she turned down a more attractive job offer to come to Kaiser Hospital in Modesto, to help establish a neonatal intensive care unit.
Trader Joe’s in their new trial motion also denied liability and claimed Gharreea was “rushed” in her shopping and also at fault.
Gharreea testified that Trader Joe’s at 3250 Dale Road was her primary grocery store and she had shopped there more than 100 times before her fall.
She said she was nearing a refrigerated shelf intending to get pre-made egg salad when she fell.
Nalbandyan, Gharreea’s attorney, emphasized several alleged shortcomings on the part of Trader Joe’s.
For example, an expert witness testified he had tested the slip resistance of the area in Trader Joe’s store and he found it to be below industry standards. The witness also testified that when he arrived to do his test, there was water in the area again.
The witness was also critical of the failure to document regular inspections. Trader Joe’s regional manager testified that requiring the employees to document inspections was not consistent with the “culture” of Trader Joe’s. He said there were hourly inspections even if no one had called attention to a spill or other hazard.
As a matter of policy, he said, the area of a fall is not documented with photographs immediately after a mishap.
Nalbandyan also noted that the only surveillance cameras in the store were pointed at the safe and the entrances. This was done to aid the police should a robbery occur, employees testified
Gharraee was taken to a hospital by ambulance after the fall. Witnesses said she hit her head on the wheel of a shopping cart.