April 17, 2000
$8.36M JURY AWARD FOR WAVERUNNER MISHAP
The National Law Journal

CASE TYPE: products liability

CASE: Cuenllas v. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., BC 196681 (Super. Ct., Los Angeles)

PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEYS: Ralph E. Chapman, of Clarksdale, Miss., Chapman, Lewis & Swan; Lawrence D. Murray, of San Francisco's Murray & Associates; and Arthur G. Lasmez, of Los Angeles

DEFENSE ATTORNEY: L. Victor Bilger Jr., of the Los Angeles office of New York's Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker L.L.P.

JURY VERDICT: $8.36 million

DAVID CUENLLAS, then 36, was operating a rented 1995 Yamaha WaveRunner III in Nassau, Bahamas, when he was struck in the rear by another rented Yamaha WaveRunner, driven by his friend Burt Diaz. As a result of the accident, Mr. Cuenllas was rendered a paraplegic, said plaintiff's attorney Ralph E. Chapman.

Mr. Cuenllas sued Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A. and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Co., charging that the WaveRunner was defectively designed, said Mr. Chapman. Much of the trial focused on alleged inadequate warnings involving how the WaveRunner responds when power is released and turns are attempted, and whether the machine should have been equipped with a rudder.

On February 16, a Los Angeles jury awarded Mr. Cuenllas $8.36 million, assigning 50% responsibility to Yamaha, 20% to the rental agency and 30% to Mr. Diaz.