Articles Posted in Damages

Etta Moore was born with spina bifida, which paralyzed her from the knees down.  She often traveled using a motorized scooter.

On Sept. 30, 2015, a motor vehicle that was operated by Teresa Mandell struck Moore while she was crossing a roadway on her scooter. Moore was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries, which included a dislocated right shoulder and severe pain. She was discharged on Oct. 2, 2015.

Moore had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and extensive physical therapy, but began to develop pain and soreness on her right shoulder and neck, which eventually spread to her left shoulder. Moore filed suit against Mandell on Sept. 19, 2017.

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Lennox Hinckson, 65, was working as an elevator maintenance and repair person for Alimak Elevator Co.  He was scheduled to perform standby services at the Holcim cement plant while senior executives toured the plant.

On the second day of Hinckson’s standby service, a Holcim employee allegedly asked Hinckson to repair the preheater towers’ outside elevator, which was landing short of the fourth floor of the tower.

Hinckson began to adjust the limit switch on top of the elevator cab. Unexpectedly, a Holcim employee called the elevator from a lower floor, which caused the elevator to descend.

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Ms. Doe, 51, was turning left on a green light turn signal when the driver of a commercial van that was travelling at approximately 55 mph ran a red light.  The commercial van broadsided Ms. Doe’s vehicle. Doe suffered multiple injuries, including a head injury, rib fractures, and pneumothorax — a collapsed lung.

Ms. Doe had been self-employed, active, and in good general health before this crash, but now suffers from left foot drop, sleep issues and chronic pain.  Ms. Doe’s medical expenses totaled $203,000.

She claimed that the van driver was distracted, using his cell phone at the time of the crash.

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Hunter Brown, 25, was traveling to California on a Greyhound bus late at night. The bus stopped at a rest stop and Brown left the bus to use the facilities. When the bus driver, Arthur Coley, began to pull away from the rest stop before Brown had re-boarded, Brown tried to get his attention. The driver drove the bus forward and ran over Brown’s foot and back.

Brown died from his injuries. He was survived by his parents.

The Brown family individually and on behalf of his estate sued Greyhound Lines, alleging negligent hiring and training and vicarious liability. The Brown family asserted that the driver, Coley, chose not to take a headcount before leaving the stop in violation of company’s policy.

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William Keck III, 48, was playing in a paddle tennis tournament at the Bel-Air Bay Club on a hot and humid day. He entered the club’s locker room, which was not air conditioned, and told an attendant that he had cramps in his leg. The attendant began to massage Keck on a locker room bench and later on the floor. However, Keck’s cramps continued and spread to his other leg and to an arm.

This cramps persisted for several hours. Keck began to turn red despite drinking ice water. The locker room attendants called the club’s athletic director, a manager, and the head of security to check on Keck.

More than four hours after Keck entered the locker room, the athletic director of the club called 911 when Keck began to suffer breathing difficulties and turned blue.

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Catherine White was operating her motor scooter on a street when Zareh Koocherian’s vehicle turned left directly in front of her. White lost control of her scooter, fell, and suffered lower back injuries that required placement of a spinal cord stimulator.

Although the stimulator has provided relief from her back pain, she is still unable to work as much as she had before the incident. Her medical bills were approximately $326,000.

White sued Koocherian alleging that he negligently made the left turn in front of her causing the collision. The lawsuit did not claim past lost income. The jury’s verdict in favor of White was more than $4.4 million finding White comparatively negligent at 20%.

BNSF Railway Co. (BNSF) appealed the denial of its motion for summary judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) following a jury trial and judgment, which granted Thomas and Dana Tubbs $2,598,000 in actual damages and $1,231,000 in punitive damages. The jury verdict and judgment were for BNSF’s negligence in choosing not to provide adequate drainage for a portion of railroad track that bisected the Tubbses’ farm.

The verdict was affirmed in this case by the Missouri Appellate Court. “The Tubbses own and operate a farm in a floodplain near the Missouri River in Holt County, Mo.”

. . . BNSF, an interstate freight railroad, owns and operates a track that runs east and west along the floodplain and bisects the Tubbses’ farm. The track sits atop an earthen embankment, which was originally rebuilt in 1887.

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Under the discovery rule, does the statute of limitations clock start when the harm is discovered? Or is it when the plaintiff discovers that the harm was “wrongfully caused?” The Illinois Appellate Court, First District, held that the statute of limitations clock starts when the harm is discovered.

During a storm in Chicago with strong winds, a portion of the roof of an auto sales and service business flew off and struck nearby power lines. The plaintiff in this case alleged that the resulting electric surge damaged computers used in a sophisticated metal manufacturing operation.

Years later, M&S Industrial Co. discovered that its neighbor’s roof had been defectively installed, which violated building codes. The company filed a lawsuit. The defendant moved to dismiss the case given that the four-year statute of limitations applicable to claims of construction negligence had expired.

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Matthew Martin, 19, was riding in the back seat of a Mini Cooper driven by his friend, Raymond Consul.  As they drove a winding road, Consul chose not to properly negotiate a curve.  He lost control of his car, which traveled off the roadway and hit a concrete barrier.

Martin suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and fell into a vegetative state. In addition, he suffered a spinal cord injury that caused paralysis. Martin had worked as an automotive detailer before this unfortunate crash.  Through a guardian, Martin sued Consul alleging that he was negligent in driving 60 mph in a 30-mph zone and in failing to maintain control of his vehicle.  The plaintiff guardian claimed lost wages for Martin totaling more than $138,200 and past medical expenses of $530,400.

The defendant argued that Martin’s injuries resulted from his choosing not to wear a seatbelt.

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Steven Frosch was working for the New York City Department of Sanitation operating a street sweeper. He was at the city department garage greasing the brushes on one of the street sweepers when his coworker, Antonio DiCaro, stopped another street sweeper next to him. As DiCaro was waiting, he reached down to unplug his Bluetooth radio. DiCaro’s vehicle then lurched forward, crushing Frosch between the two sweepers.

Frosch suffered multiple internal crush injuries, including a severed spinal cord, ruptured diaphragm and spleen and kidney damage. Tragically, he was pronounced dead at the scene within just ten minutes. He was 43 years old. Frosch was survived by his wife and four minor children.

Colombina Frosch, his wife, individually and on behalf of her husband’s estate, sued DiCaro and the City of New York alleging that DiCaro was negligent in choosing not to put his vehicle in park before reaching for his Bluetooth radio.

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