This poster on Topix summed the whole case up perfectly. I quote:
"The plaintiffs settled before the California Supreme Court had a chance
to look at it. The settled amount would have most assuredly have been
less than 2.8 million. That was the number they would have had to pay
worst case scenario had their appeal failed.
I believe the
plaintiffs capitulated because it was likely that the Supreme Court
would have reversed the negligence portion of the judgment (had the
supreme court reviewed the case). The plaintiffs built a case on the
premise of a sinister "policy of secrecy". Therefore the WT spent most
of their resources defending against that premise.(The appeals court
affirmed that the policy of confidentially was reasonable and inline
with most organizations).
Had the lower court ruled properly
about the so-called "policy of secrecy" then the WT could have spent
most of their resources defending themselves against the negligence
portion of the lawsuit. Namely did the WT ever assign Kendrick to work
alone with Candace in field service. And that is the ONLY thing the jury
should have decided instead of a policy that the plaintiffs grossly
misrepresented.
Also the experts mistakenly told the jury that
the elders were mandated reporters. That was not true and unjustly
prejudiced the defendants".