$2.8 MILLION VERDICT FOR CAFETERIA ACCIDENT VICTIM

New York, New York.  MONIER LAW Personal Injury Lawyer, PHIL MONIER, obtained a $2.8 Million Dollar verdict after a three week trial in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Brooklyn, before Judge Rivera, on behalf of his client who was 53 years old on the date of her accident. 

The lawsuit was brought to obtain compensation for a home health aide who was accompanying her client to a medical appointment at Brooklyn Hospital, where she was seriously injured when she slipped on a wet food condition outside the cafeteria exit, causing her to fall.  The impact from the accident caused her to suffer traumatic injuries to her left leg and her lower back.  As a result of these traumatic injuries she had to undergo two separate surgical procedures.

The fall caused a tendon in her leg to become separated from her hip bone.  The tendon had to be surgically anchored back onto the bone by an orthopedic surgeon.  Medical records showed that even after this surgery this woman was left with residual pain and a permanent disability.

The herniated disc material in her lower back had to be surgically reduced, and the instability in her spine reinforced with metal hardware surgically placed.  The trauma caused the jell-like interior of  a disc located between two vertebrae in her lower spine to rupture through the hard cartilage exterior and press against nerves, causing pain.  This serious injury required surgical intervention since conservative treatment, such as physical therapy and pain management injections, did not satisfactorily manage her pain.

The lawyers for the hospital argued that the hospital had taken reasonably good care of its premises and that the accident was caused solely as a result of our client failing to see the hazard on the floor immediately prior to her accident.   They also argued that her back was not injured as a result of this accident, but that her injuries were the result of degenerative changes, caused as a result of the normal aging process.  They further argued that she had fully recovered from her injuries and needed no future medical care and suffered no disability.  

Following a verdict on liability, by which the jury found the hospital failed to properly take care of its premises, the trial proceeded to assess the extent of her injuries and determine an amount of money that would fairly and reasonably compensate her for the injuries caused by the accident.  The jury determined her total damages without regard to fault to be in the sum of $2.8 Million Dollars. Following the jury’s verdict, PHIL MONIER gave a statement regarding the hard won victory.  We called four experts in the fields of orthopedics, physiatry, pain management, and economics to demonstrate to the jury the extent of this woman’s injuries and the effect that these injuries have had, and will continue to have, on her life.  When an accident happens as the result of someone’s negligence, or failure to use reasonable care, the injured party deserves to be fully compensated for not only what that person has gone through since the date of the accident, but also for what the person will go through in the future, for the rest of that person’s life.  The proceeds from the jury’s verdict will help our client deal with her continuing pain and functional difficulties.