Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COURTS : Woman Hit by Drunk Driver Wins $1,592,265
In December, 1981, a drunk driver crossed a median on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach and rammed Julie Gourley’s car.
Gourley suffered broken bones and chronic tendinitis, but she was insured for such injuries caused by uninsured drivers, so everything would be all right.
Not so. Her insurer, State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., wanted to reduce its payment to Gourley on the grounds that she was not wearing a seat belt, which in 1981 was not required by law.
“It seemed so preposterous from the beginning that our insurance company would blame us for an accident instead of a drunk driver,” said Gourley, 45, of Santa Ana.
A Superior Court jury in Santa Ana agreed and awarded her $1,592,265, an amount the jury said was punishment to State Farm for its “malice, oppression and fraud” in dealing with Gourley.
Gourley, a former high school English teacher, said she hoped the award “will help save others from the frustration and irritation of having to fight their own insurance company when they need support.”
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