Settlement reached in sexual-assault victim’s lawsuit against Fletcher Jones Motorcars
A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged a mechanic who broke into her home and sexually assaulted her got her address from the Newport Beach Mercedes-Benz dealership where he worked.
Karen Sommers, a nurse practitioner who lived in Newport Beach, filed a civil suit in 2013 against Fletcher Jones Motorcars, seeking unspecified damages.
On Friday — the 11th day of trial in the case in Orange County Superior Court — lawyers representing Sommers and Fletcher Jones Motorcars said a settlement had been reached and asked the court to dismiss the case, court documents state.
The terms of the settlement have not been released. Attorneys for Sommers and the dealership could not be reached for comment Monday.
Travis Dewayne Batten, 34, is serving a 107-year prison sentence for two separate attacks on Orange County women in their homes, including the 2005 assault on Sommers.
Sommers alleged that Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Batten’s employer, bore some responsibility for the assault. Sommers bought a car from Fletcher Jones in 2004 and regularly had it serviced there, according to the lawsuit, which claimed Batten used the dealership’s computer system to look up her address so he could rape her.
The Daily Pilot usually does not publish the names of victims of sexual crimes, but in Sommers’ case, she came forward with her allegations publicly.
Sommers’ attorney Christopher Rudd told jurors during opening statements in the case that the dealership’s measures for protecting customer information amounted to “Swiss cheese.”
In 2005, Rudd said, Sommers returned home from a gym to find a masked man in her Back Bay apartment.
Rudd said the man, later identified as Batten, used duct tape to restrain Sommers, dragged her to a bedroom and began tearing her clothes off.
Sommers fought back, Rudd said, and after Batten punched her on the head hard enough to break his hand, he fled – but not before warning Sommers that he would come back to kill her.
Fletcher Jones Motorcars argued that evidence presented at trial did not prove the dealership to be liable, according to court documents. Fletcher Jones’ attorney Karl Lindegren told jurors that Batten never worked on Sommers’ car and that there was no evidence the two interacted at the dealership.
Lindegren said Batten got into Sommers’ home through an unlocked door and may have been trying to steal from the apartment, not lie in wait for her.
Staff writer Jeremiah Dobruck contributed to this report.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
