Mattel hit with $23 million judgment in car accident

Mathis Winkler

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 9:54 a.m.

A Clark County District Court jury Thursday ordered the toymaker Mattel to pay a California man more than $23 million for a car accident that left him blind and paralyzed.

Robert Stuart, 57, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was injured Aug. 13, 2000, when a car driven by his friend, Steven Pennington, veered off U.S. 93 about 35 miles north of Pioche in Lincoln County and overturned.

Pennington, a car designer for the toy manufacturer, was headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to check out race car designs. The two had been friends for more than 30 years, and Pennington was assisting Stuart in applying for a job at Mattel. Stuart, a project manager for computer systems, was self-employed at the time.

During the trial in Chief Judge Mark Gibbons' courtroom, Stuart's attorney, Al Massi, argued that Pennington's negligence had caused the accident and held Mattel liable since it occurred while Pennington was traveling on company time.

A majority of the eight-member jury agreed and awarded Stuart $810,000 for past medical expenses, $1.5 million for past physical and mental pain and suffering, $882,405 for future loss of earnings, $5.5 million for future medical expenses and $14.5 million for future physical and mental pain and suffering, bringing the total to $23,192,504.

While both Pennington and Mattel were defendants in the trial, the company will bear sole responsibility for paying any damages, Massi said.

The jury's decision means "everything to me," said Stuart, who was accompanied by his partner, Kathleen Shaw, and a nurse throughout the trial.

"I feel very good for all the people I love and who have supported me," he said, his voice trembling with emotion.

Stuart, who is paralyzed from the mid-chest down, will require 24-hour care for the rest of his life. His doctor also testified that Stuart's normal life expectancy of 22 more years has been shortened by six years as a result of the accident.

Only one juror, who asked not to be named, disagreed with the verdict. He said the evidence didn't convince him that Pennington acted with negligence.

But several jurors, while talking with the attorneys and the judge afterwards, said their decision had been based simply on the facts of the case.

Mattel officials said they had not made a decision on whether to appeal the verdict. But Massi pointed out that one of the defendants' six lawyers present throughout the trial specializes in appeals.

"Their intention is to appeal," Massi said, adding that it would take about 18 months for the case to make its way through the appeal process, at which time Stuart would receive the money unless the verdict is overturned.

He added that he would file claims for attorney's fees with the court at a later date.