Jury awards $3 million to man who tripped on LA sidewalk that's been broken for years

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A jury has awarded a wedding photographer $3 million after he was injured when he tripped over a damaged sidewalk in Woodland Hills in 2019.

Last week, a jury made Payman Heravi $3 million richer. While Heravi started to cry as the jury's decision was read, they didn't appear to be tears of joy.

Payman says his left arm isn't fully functional - all because of a severely uneven L.A. city sidewalk.

"Right now, (the) pain is a lot," Heravi said. "Right now, I can't use my shoulder."

In December 2019, Heravi says he was walking down Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills and as he checked a text on his phone, he tripped on a several-inch uplift in the sidewalk.

Heravi's attorneys successfully argued that city employees saw the sidewalk was damaged, but didn't repair it.

"That should be fixed in a reasonable manner," Heravi's personal injury attorney Max Lee said. "If that happened in this case, Mr. Heravi would still be able to do what he loves and not be in constant pain every day."

Three surgeries and years of physical therapy later, Heravi says he still cannot return to making a living as a wedding photographer.

The jury awarded Heravi a total of $3,028,026. As for the sidewalk, it still has not been fixed.

In roughly the past five years, the city of Los Angeles has paid out more than $86 million because of lawsuits relating to broken and uneven sidewalks.

Last week, 7 On Your Side Investigates reported on an 85-year-old woman's eight-year-long fight to fix the sidewalk in front of her home in the Fairfax District.

L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia has been sounding the alarm about the huge amount of tax dollars Los Angeles now spends on liability lawsuits.

In the fiscal year that just recently wrapped, it's estimated the city spent a record $286 million in liability payouts, according to the controller's office.

For context, 20 years ago, the city paid out just $35 million.

Meija's office has launched an audit to see if the city is most effectively reducing its risks of lawsuits.

7 On Your Side Investigates asked Meija if he thinks people are just more litigious, or if he thinks the city is not properly caring for its infrastructure.

"That's why we are trying to do this audit, to figure that out," Meija said. "But what we do know is that these liabilities we're seeing they're increasing every year."

The city started its new fiscal year on July 1.

The controller's office says in just the first month of this new fiscal year, more than 9 million in tax dollars went to liability claims.

Meija says this is less than the first month of the previous fiscal year, so we'll see as the year goes on if the city has been able to reverse what's been an expensive trend.

As for the sidewalk Heravi says he tripped over, 7 On Your Side Investigates has repeatedly reached out to the city's Bureau of Engineering and asked if it will be fixed, but has not gotten a response.

7 On Your Side Investigates has also have repeatedly reached out to the City Attorney's Office to see if they plan to appeal and has not received a response.