After a City Attorney's office assessment determined that San Francisco had little to no chance of winning a court case against a woman who was permanently disabled after she was struck by a Muni light-rail vehicle in 2013, officials agreed to award her an $11 million settlement.

As the Chron today reminds us, Brynn K. Stoll was crossing the intersection of 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard on her way to City College from her home in Parkmerced when a Muni M-line train struck her, leaving her in a coma for five weeks and with a severe brain injury that will require care for the rest of her life.

The Chron reports that "Stoll's lawsuit against the city alleged she was crossing the street on a white walk signal and that the train operator ran a red light," but according to an April, 2015 settlement report from the San Francisco City Attorney's office to the SFMTA (I've uploaded the entire document for you to read here — the portions relevant to the Stoll case begin on page 15. It's really quite fascinating!) Stoll was wearing earbuds and jaywalking when she was struck.

As noted in the city attorney's settlement report, that same area has been the site of three collisions to date, of which Stoll's was the second. In 2011, 19-year-old Lauren Harrington was struck by an M that admittedly ran a red light, leading to a $335,000 payout to Harrington from the city. In 2014, 20-year-old Leah Sarnoff was injured while standing in the passenger area.

In their assessment, the city attorney's office thought that SF might have a chance at winning the case by arguing that Stoll was negligent — after all, they say, she had in earbuds and wasn't watching where she was going. But they also acknowledge that a jury might believe that the Muni operator, Andre Richardson, was at fault.

Though the Chron reports that "The city did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement," the city attorney's settlement report certainly suggests that the city knew they'd be screwed if they went to court.

Speaking with the Chron, city attorney spokesperson Matt Dorsey said that the $11 million settlement is "a fair settlement involving a terribly unfortunate accident."

According to the settlement report, the bill for Stoll's treatment immediately following the collision were $750,000, and her attorneys say that her continued care is expected to run from $12,809,609-14,981,438. As the city estimated that her continued care would be way cheaper — between $3 million to $4.5 million — they factored in her lifetime of lost wages and Stoll's general damages, all to end up at the $11 million settlement figure.

“No amount of money can undo what happened, of course," Dorsey said.

"We’re glad we could reach an amicable agreement to resolve the case and avoid further litigation."