‘It shattered him.’ Uber driver rear-ended by Fresno city bus gets big award from jury
A Fresno Uber driver who was injured in 2015 after being rear-ended by a FAX bus on Highway 41, has been awarded $1 million by a Fresno County jury.
Tuesday’s jury’s decision was an emotional one for the 51-year-old Reza Mohammadi, an Iranian immigrant who had dreams of running his own mechanic shop.
“When the decision came down, he was shaking and he had tears in his eyes,” said Jeremy Dobbins, Mohammadi’s attorney. “He said he couldn’t believe it was finally over. It took six years because the city did not want to compensate him.”
City spokesperson Sontaya Rose said she could not comment about “any details related to the case or verdict at this time.”
Mohammadi sued the city twice. The first time the city and Mohammadi’s previous lawyer, not Dobbins, agreed to a settlement in 2019 of $50,000.
“He was shortchanged badly,” Dobbins said.
Mohammadi has already been through two lower back surgeries to help relieve his pain. He also had a spinal stimulator implanted but it was later removed because it was not effective. Doctors have diagnosed Mohammadi as having chronic pain syndrome. Although he still works as an Uber driver, he does so in pain, Dobbins said.
Dobbins took Mohammadi’s case and discovered that the settlement was not done correctly. The agreement was made without the consent of Mohammadi. The case was appealed and on June 16, 2020 the Fifth District Court of Appeal agreed with Mohammadi and sent the case back to Superior Court.
The second time around, the outcome was different.
Dobbins said that despite the city’s effort to discredit Mohammadi as someone who has been in multiple car accidents, the jury saw a man in pain.
Dobbins said Mohammadi had been in three accidents prior to being rear-ended by the FAX bus. In one of the crashes, Mohammadi wasn’t even driving, but sitting in a doctor’s office waiting to be seen when a truck came crashing through a wall.
The city’s defense was that Mohammadi’s back was already injured before the FAX crash and they shouldn’t be responsible.
Dobbins argued that Mohammadi’s crash with the FAX bus severely exacerbated his client’s back problems.
The crash happened on Nov. 9, 2015 at about 7 p.m. Mohammadi was working as an Uber driver with a single passenger in his car. He was headed south on the highway when a FAX bus hit Mohammadi’s back bumper causing the car to spin out and knocking it onto the Shaw Avenue offramp.
Mohammadi was taken to Saint Agnes Medical Center and his passenger was not injured.
“When he got hit by that bus, it ruined his back,” Dobbins said. “It shattered him.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
