Judge Rules for Wife of Pier Accident Victim

A woman whose boyfriend was paralyzed in an accident under the Manhattan Beach Pier can sue for loss of sexual relations with the man, who is now her husband, a Torrance Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.

Judge Abraham Gorenfeld denied a joint motion by attorneys for the city, Los Angeles County and the state to throw out the case. Gorenfeld said the courts have granted damages to unmarried women in similar cases.

John Collins, an attorney representing the county, said that while other courts have granted damages to unmarried women for loss of consortium, the judge should have applied a more recent case that did not allow such an award.

“Why should the taxpayers be put to the expense because he failed to apply the most recent case?” Collins asked. “This is the very type of judicial reasoning that has caused all this clamor in the public sector over insurance rates.”

Collins said he was unsure whether the decision would be appealed.

Attorney Applauds Decision

Attorneys for the city and state could not be reached for comment.

Phillip Daigneault, a Torrance attorney representing Janet Meisenbach, the woman involved in the Manhattan Beach case, applauded Gorenfeld’s decision.

“It was a progressive and enlightened decision,” Daigneault said. “It was a courageous decision because it recognizes the reality of today’s society.”

The case stems from an incident on Aug. 23, 1984, when George Benda, 46, was stretching under the pier before jogging on the beach. A 150-pound concrete slab broke off from the aging pier and struck the self-employed electrical contractor, severing his spinal cord.

The injury left the Redondo Beach resident paralyzed below the rib cage. He is seeking $20 million in damages in a pending suit alleging negligence by the city, county and state. The pier is in Manhattan Beach, but is owned by the state and operated by the county.

In declarations filed in support of her claim, Meisenbach said that she met Benda in the spring of 1983, and shortly thereafter began living with him in his apartment. She said they bought furniture for their home from a joint account, and that they did not date other people after moving in together.

Saw Her Often

Benda said that during a three-month period that Meisenbach lived in Costa Mesa because of a job, he continued to see her three to four times a week. Meisenbach said she had considered herself to be Mrs. Benda before the accident, and, indeed, married Benda about a year after he was rendered a paraplegic.

Gorenfeld said that he had the option to apply whatever case he wanted and said he chose a 1983 decision that awarded damages to an unmarried woman in Orange County. “If the conservative community of Orange County gave the same rights of a married woman to an unmarried woman, then it raises the value of what importance there was to being married.”

Gorenfeld said the key to the case will be whether Meisenbach can convince a jury that her relationship with Benda before their marriage was “stable and significant.”

Trial is set for July 21 in Torrance Superior Court.

Phillips said a case that was decided last year (Lewis vs. Hughes Helicopter, Inc.), denying damages to an unmarried woman, will be reviewed by the state Supreme Court.