Modesto has paid $912,500 to settle a lawsuit in which a female driver alleged that a city employee rear-ended her vehicle at Yosemite and South Morton boulevards in July 2019.
The city spent $142,408 in legal fees and $9,927 in other expenses in the litigation, bringing the total cost to $1,064,835. The city pays up to $1 million of the costs in any lawsuit, and its insurance pays costs that exceed that threshold.
The Bee learned about the lawsuit through filing a California Public Records Act request for all lawsuits and claims the city settled in the first quarter of this year. The lawsuit was filed in November 2019 in Stanislaus County Superior Court and was dismissed April 15.
Silvina Martinez de Garcia sued Modesto. She could not be reached for comment. She was represented by the Southern California-based Southwest Legal Group, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Court records state Martinez de Garcia underwent at least three spinal surgeries related to injuries to her lower back from the July 24, 2019, accident.
The lawsuit alleges she was rear-ended by city employee George Duarte Vierra Jr.
Modesto confirmed Vierra remains employed by the city and is a maintenance worker II. He was a building maintenance specialist in 2019, according to Transparent California, a website that tracks public employee compensation.
Modesto did not respond by The Bee’s deadline to requests for additional information, including the details of the accident and the city’s investigation of it. The lawsuit also does not have details about the accident. Court records show Vierra was not cited.
But that stretch of Yosemite Boulevard often has heavy traffic and is near the E.&J. Gallo Winery and the former Beard Brook Park, which the winery acquired from the city in a land swap.
Modesto did not admit to any liability, including causing the accident and Martinez de Garcia’s injuries, according to the settlement agreement.