UPS driver settles suit alleging LAUSD worker threw urine at her

A UPS driver has settled her lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified in which she alleged a district employee threw a cup filled with urine at her when her truck blocked his way in 2020.

Lawyers for plaintiff Claudia Lopez filed court papers on Tuesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Serena R. Murillo stating that her case was resolved. No terms were divulged.

The complaint filed in December 2020 alleged assault and battery, negligence and negligent hiring, supervision and retention. In their court papers, LAUSD lawyers denied any liability on the district’s part and argued that any finding of liability against the district should be proportionately reduced based on Lopez’s own negligence.

UPS drivers such as Lopez, who drive large trucks, often have to block other vehicles from coming and going as they make deliveries because of the urban congestion in Los Angeles County, the suit stated.

Lopez stopped her marked UPS truck about 1 p.m. June 5, 2020, to make a delivery in the 1500 block of South Cloverdale Avenue near the mid-Wilshire area when a man got out of a vehicle with LAUSD markings and demanded that she move her truck so he could get by, the suit stated.

Lopez and the LAUSD worker argued about whether or not there was enough room for him to move his vehicle past her, the suit states. In fear for her life, she dialed 911 because he seemed “aggressive and extremely hostile to her, putting her in fear for her safety,” the suit stated.

Once she finished the call, the LAUSD worker threw a cup at her and the urine inside splashed her in the face and on other parts of her body, the suit stated.

“After he threw the urine on her, the LAUSD driver was easily able to drive by the UPS vehicle, proving that Ms. Lopez was in fact correct in the argument,” the suit stated.

Lopez was traumatized by the urine’s smell and immediately felt distressed, the suit states.

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