November 23, 2022

Valdez v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

Plaintiff and another man engaged in a fistfight at a gas station. An attendant intervened to stop the fight and physically separated the men, allegedly aggravating plaintiff’s existing shoulder injury. Plaintiff sued the attendant and gas station owner for negligence. The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, finding that the attendant was immune from liability under the Good Samaritan law (Health & Saf. Code, § 1799.102, subd. (b)), which protects those who render assistance at the scene of an “emergency.” Plaintiff appealed.

The Court of Appeal affirmed. The court held that the fistfight qualified as an “emergency” because the attendant reasonably believed the combatants needed medical attention. By stopping the fight, the attendant was acting reasonably and in good faith to render emergency nonmedical assistance to those requiring medical attention, thereby shielding him from liability as a Good Samaritan.