Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander’s now-19-year-old daughter, who was hurt in 2013 while riding in a car that was driven off the second floor of a Porter Ranch parking structure, reached a settlement with the driver and the motorist’s mother, according to court papers filed Monday.
The documents were filed with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa Traber, who last week gave her nod to an accord between the plaintiff and the other two defendants named in her suit: Shepherd of the Hills Church and Valley Outreach Synagogue. The plaintiff will receive a total of $250,000 from those defendants.
No terms were divulged regarding Monday’s settlement with the driver and her mother.
Jayne Englander brought the lawsuit in August 2016 on behalf of her daughter, who was 14 years old at the time. According to the church and synagogue’s settlement papers, the driver, who was 17 at the time and is now 23, admitted in a deposition to being at fault in the accident. The driver said she drove too fast and was trying to “have a good time,” according to the church/synagogue court papers.
The Englander daughter was one of four members of Valley Outreach Synagogue who were passengers in the 2007 Scion tC that was driven off the edge of the second floor of a parking structure owned by Shepherd of the Hills Church on Sept. 5, 2013. The vehicle ended up in a planter on the first level, according to the complaint.
The Englander daughter sustained a traumatic brain injury and suffered from mood swings, depression and anxiety following the accident, according to the lawsuit, which said lingering effects included difficulty concentrating, sleeping and maintaining balance.
No signs existed warning about the edge of the second floor of the incomplete structure on Rinaldi Street and there were no procedures in place to warn guests of the inherent danger, according to the suit, which alleged the defendants knew that the driver was a minor with a driver’s permit and a “poor driving history.”
Mitchell Englander represented Los Angeles City Council District 12 from 2011-18. He resigned to join a sports and entertainment advisory, development and investment company.