A former valet from a La Quinta country club was awarded $6 million after being severely injured by a drunken driver, whom he sued, his law firm said Friday.
Jurors began deliberating Monday and reached a verdict by Thursday, according to lead attorney Khail A. Parris of Parris Law Firm.
The defendant, Keith James Dudum, chose to drive a woman back to her home after drinking at the weekly “Thirsty Thursday” event in the Hideaway Country Club in La Quinta, according to the law firm.
“Before getting behind the wheel, a fellow club guest noticed their impaired state and offered to drive them home,” law firm officials said. “But, Dudum insisted on driving the woman home.”
But instead, Dudum instructed a valet at the country club — the plaintiff, Devin Patrick Taylor — to drive his vehicle and follow behind as he drove the woman in her vehicle, according to the law firm. The plaintiff did as he was instructed and followed in Dudum’s 2013 Maserati Granturismo to the woman’s house.
Once the woman was dropped off, Dudum made Taylor get in the passenger seat before driving him back to the country club, law firm officials said. Dudum, without warning, accelerated to more than three times the posted 25 mile-per-hour speed limit, lost control of the car and crashed into a brick monument, which sheared through the passenger door, ripped off the rear wheel and deployed all airbags.
The defendant then left the plaintiff in the vehicle and ran to the clubhouse to get crackers because he was “shaken up” and his “stomach was upset,” law firm officials said.
“Obviously, his privileged outlook gave him the skewed view that the rules didn’t apply to him,” said attorney Bruce L. Schechter. “Everyone around him wanted to avoid this exact situation, and yet he chose to place the general public in harm’s way and our client paid the price for his decisions.”
Parris said that the defendant’s drunk driving at the reckless speed in a residential neighborhood was a choice to prioritize his entertainment over the safety of people around him.