Scholl v. NCK Tools, Inc. et al

Filing 116

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER- A separate judgment will be entered in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $154,375.00. Ordered by Judge John M. Gerrard. (MKR)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
JENNIFER D. SCHOLL,
Plaintiff,

4:18-CV-3039

vs.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
MARTY ADE, dba NCK TOOLS,
INC., and STEVEN E. ROBBINS,
Defendants.
On August 5, 2021, the jury in this matter returned a verdict for the
plaintiff, Jennifer Scholl, and determined that her total damages were
$250,000.00. The jury also determined that the plaintiff was contributorily
negligent, and found that 35 percent of the total negligence was attributable
to her. The Court finds that pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, the
plaintiff’s total damages shall be diminished by the percent negligence
attributable to her. Thus, the plaintiff’s recovery for damages, as found by the
jury, is $162,500.00.
The parties stipulated that the plaintiff was not wearing her seatbelt
when the collision litigated in this matter occurred. Further, the plaintiff
stipulated to a five percent reduction in the plaintiff’s recovery of damages
pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,273, should the jury return a verdict in her
favor.
Section 60-6,273 provides that evidence a person was not wearing a
seatbelt “shall not be admissible in regard to the issue of liability or proximate
cause but may be admissible as evidence concerning mitigation of damages,
except that it shall not reduce recovery for damages by more than five percent.”
The Court finds that the statutory text directs the Court to reduce the

plaintiff’s “recovery for damages” by five percent. The statutory text does not
direct the Court to subtract five percent from the plaintiff’s "total damages"
that the jury assessed. Thus, the Court reduces the $162,500 recovery as found
by the jury by 5 percent, i.e., the sum of $8,125. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that a separate judgment will be entered in favor
of the plaintiff in the amount of $154,375.00.
Dated this 5th day of August, 2021.
BY THE COURT:

John M. Gerrard
United States District Judge

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