(05-23) 09:40 PDT VISALIA, Calif. (AP) --
A farm worker has been awarded nearly $26 million from
Farmers Insurance, an amount local attorneys said was the
largest award of its kind in county history.
Tulare County jurors found Wednesday that the insurance
company should have helped Gustavo Perez fight a suit that
resulted when a truck ran into the tractor Perez had borrowed.
Farmers Insurance was ordered to pay $25 million in
punitive damages and $863,000 in compensatory damages.
Perez knows the appeals process could take years, but he
was still content with the result.
"I've lost sleep and suffered headaches," he said. "I'm
very happy that a large load has been taken off my shoulders."
Farmers plans to appeal, said spokeswoman Mary Flynn.
"We're confident that the verdict will be overturned," she
said.
The case began in 1998 when Perez borrowed a tractor from
his employer. The tractor stalled on the road while a laborer
hired by Perez was driving it. A big rig ran into the tractor
on the dark highway. The laborer who was driving the tractor
ran away, but the man driving the truck sued Perez.
Fire Insurance Exchange, owned by Farmers, provided
liability coverage, but did not hire an attorney to help
defend Perez.
LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) -- When his friends went to junior high,
Cassidy Chronister went to a community college. Now, as the
14-year-old's friends prepare for high school, Chronister is
heading to a university.
The Lemoore teenager, who pedaled his way to West Hills
College for the past three years, was set to graduate Friday
with a 3.0 grade point average and a degree in liberal arts.
He said he liked the experience.
"It was kind of fun. It was like I was in the spotlight,"
Chronister said. "At first, other kids were like, 'What are
you doing here?' then they accepted me as any other student."
He plans to transfer to California State University,
Fresno, in the fall, to study computer science. He hopes to
get his degree -- and his driver's license -- in two years.
Fresno State doesn't track student ages, but officials
believe Chronister will be the youngest transfer student to
attend.
Chronister's mother, a former teacher, started home
schooling him in the third grade because he was always ahead
of his classes.
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Fresno Mayor Alan Autry used his State
of the City address to call for controversial drug testing in
Fresno's schools and homes.
The mayor asked local schools to start randomly testing
their students.
He also said the city would make drug-testing kits
available to parents at six city centers. The first 100 would
be free, the mayor said. After that, he hopes they will sell
for just under $10.
"This is not a punitive measure," Autry told 600 people.
"This is a health issue."
Local educators are skeptical of the effort.
"I interpreted what he said as wanting to just be able to
walk onto any school site and test any kid, any time. You
can't do that," said Richard Johanson, president of the Fresno
Unified School District governing board.
Michael Smith of the Lozano Smith law firm, which
represents Fresno Unified and about 300 other districts in
California, said it was "not lawful to randomly drug test all
high school students." The Constitution defends a student's
right to privacy, he said.
Drug tests may be administered when there is reasonable
suspicion of drug use, Smith said, or when the students
participate in extracurricular activities.
SFGate
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