A jury awarded $12,017,970 to plaintiffs who claimed that a transfer delay caused a woman's slip into a coma. On Sept. 4, 2007, Jessica Ramirez, then 22, was shot in the head with an air pellet gun and taken to Greater El Monte Community Hospital. She was transferred by air ambulance to Huntington Memorial Hospital just after midnight on Sept. 5. She underwent surgery, but a bleeding cortical blood vessel and severe brain swelling had allegedly caused a mid-brain herniation. For the rest of her life, Ramirez will be in a vegetative state, requiring a G-tube for feeding. The plaintiffs claimed that hospital staffers failed to assess the urgency of Ramirez's condition. The hospital asserted that the pellet caused permanent brain damage and serious injury was unavoidable. (A present cash value hearing on MICRA and other issues is scheduled for April 12.) Ramirez v. Abudu, Los Angeles County

A computer technician who claimed severe migraines after slipping during a service call recovered. $1.5 million. In October 2007, Frank Falcon, 26, slipped on a wet floor in the kitchen of the Buckhorn Bar & Grill Restaurant in Walnut Creek and fell backwards, landing on his head and upper back. Falcon, who claimed that his headaches were so painful that he couldn't return to work, alleged that the restaurant manager was aware that the floor contained grease, water and dishwashing liquid, but failed to warn of the potential danger. The defense aruged that the slippery condition was open and obvious, and that Falcon was inattentive. The defense also asserted that Falcon had recovered and could return to work. Falcon v. Buckhorn Grill, Contra Costa County

The four surviving children of a man who died while operating a tractor recovered $100,000. On May 20, 2006, Jesus Samaguey, 55, was crushed to death while operating a tractor owned by United Rentals Inc./United Rentals Northwest Inc. Claims included negligent manufacture, design, fabrication, labeling, testing, merchandising, inspection, advertising, promotion, rental and/or sale of the tractor. Plaintiffs' counsel also asserted that the vehicle was unsafe in terms of protection for the driver and that United Rentals knew of the tractor's inherent defects. The lawyers further alleged that United Rentals failed to warn of the tractor's risks when operated on an incline. The defense contended that Samaguey negligently operated the tractor. Sanchez v. United Rentals Inc., Federal Court

A San Diego, California jury has ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $369 million to a woman paralyzed in a rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer, the nation's best-selling sport-utility vehicle. On June 3, 2004, the jury ordered the No. 2 automaker to pay $246 million in punitive damages, after awarding more than $122.6 million in compensatory damages. Buell-Wilson v. Ford Motor Co. (San Diego County)

A woman whose supervisor stole her winning Super Lotto ticket was awarded just under $8 million by a Pomona jury on Sept. 30, 2003. Arwa Farraj, 24, a new employee at the Circle K in La Verne, purchased a Super Lotto ticket from the supermarket on Dec. 25, 1999. When she found out that the winning $8 million ticket had been purchased at this store, she placed her ticket into the lotto machine. Since she was unfamiliar with how the machine worked, she asked her supervisor, Gurinder Ruby, for assistance. Ruby told Farraj that she had won $88. Farraj later learned that Ruby had taken and cashed in her ticket approximately one month after he assisted her with the machine. Farraj sued Ruby and Circle K Stores Inc., alleging conversion. Circle K argued that the supervisor was acting outside the scope of his employment, but the jury found the defendants jointly and severally liable. Farraj v. Circle K (Los Angeles County)

A property manager was hit with a $883,962 verdict for fire loss suffered by three businesses. Safco Capital Corp., which managed the Pedley Square complex, used a power washer to clean a sign owned by a hair salon. Two days later, a short circuit in the sign caused a fire which caused damage to the salon and then swept through the complex, destroying a florist and a laundromat. The tenants contended that Safco had been warned that power-washing the sign could short-circuit it. The Riverside County jury found Safco liable. Reno v. Safco Capital Corp. (Riverside County)