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$950,000 result – cited in Verdict Search New YorkPremises Liability – Negligent Repair and/or Maintenance – Dangerous Condition – Restaurant’s Patron Alleged She Slipped on Wet, Uneven Stairs
VERDICT: $950,000. ACTUAL: $250,000.
CASE: Alice Adorno v N .Y. Sizzler Restaurant Corp., Harpaul Realty Corp., & Harpaul Management Corp., No. 14138/05
COURT:
Bronx Supreme. JUDGE: Wilma Guzman. DATE:
8/13/2008 PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY(S): Alan M, Greenberg Law Offices of Alan M. Greenberg, P.C., New York, NY
DEFENSE ATTORNEY(S): Ron Langman, Gibson & Behman, P.C., New York, NY
FACTS & ALLEGATIONS: On Nov. 20, 2004, plaintiff Alice Adorno, 54, a homemaker, slipped while descending a stairway of a restaurant that was located at 2375 E. Tremont Ave. in the Bronx. She claimed that she fell and sustained injuries of her back, her head, a knee and her neck.
Adorno sued the restaurant’s corporate owner, N.Y Sizzler Restaurant Corp.; the building’s owner, Harpaul Realty Corp; and the building’s operator; Harpaul Management Corp. She alleged that the defendants were negligent in their maintenance of the premises and that their negligence created a dangerous condition.
Adorno claimed that she slipped, reached for a handrail, but could not prevent herself from falling down the stairs. She contended that the stairway’s carpeted steps were mushy, dirty and wet Adorno’s counsel presented photographs of the stairway, and he claimed that the photographs indicated that the carpeted step treads were covered by a gray layer of film.
Adomo’s counsel noted that the 47-inch wide stairway was bounded by one handrail, and Adorno’s expert engineer opined that a relevant municipal building code specified that two handrails were necessary. The expert also opined that the stairs’ risers and treads were not uniform in height and that, as such, the stairway violated another municipal building code He examined the stairs about 1.5 years after the accident, and he agreed that the carpeting was filthy.
Defense counsel contended that the accident was a product of
Adomo’s failure to utilize the stairway’s handrail. He noted
that the incident occurred while Adorno was escorting one of her
grandchildren, and he suggested that Adorno may have been
running in pursuit of the child.
The defense retained an expert engineer, but the engineer
claimed that he misplaced the report of his inspection of the
stairway. Thus, the expert did not testify during the trial. INJURIES/DAMAGES: arthroscopy; bulging disc, cervical, bulging disc, lumbar; cartilage defects; head, knee; physical therapy, radiculopathy, stenosis; synovitis
Adorno claimed that her head struck a wall or the stairway’s handrail. She was assisted by one of the restaurant’s employees, who noted that Adorno’s scalp was bleeding. Adorno was placed in an ambulance and transported to Jacobi Medical Center, in the Bronx. Her wound was cleaned, and she was released.
Three days later; Adorno returned to the hospital. Her scalp’s wound was oozing, and she claimed that she was suffering pain that stemmed from her back, her left knee and her neck. She did not undergo significant treatment, but she claimed that she was homebound during the ensuing several weeks.
About one month later, Adorno underwent MRI scans, and the results revealed that she was suffering bulges of her C5-6, L4-5 and L5-Sl intervertebral discs; stenosis, or narrowing of the central portion of the spinal canal; narrowing of the neural foramen, which is the space that is occupied by the roots of spinal nerves; and apparent tears of her left knee’s anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus. An electromyography revealed that she was suffering radiculopathy.
Adorno claimed that her injuries were products of her fall In June 2005, she underwent arthroscopic surgery that addressed her left knee. The surgeon did not observe any tears, but he detected a lesion of the knee’s chondral cartilage. He also detected synovitis—inflammation of the membrane that lines a joint. Adorno claimed that she was homebound during the several weeks that followed the surgery, and she also underwent about 1.5 years of physical therapy.
Adorno sought recovery of damages for her past and future path and suffering.
Defense counsel contended that Adorno’s back, knee and neck injuries stemmed from degenerative conditions that preexisted the accident. He noted that Jacobi Medical Center’s records indicated that she did not report those injuries during her initial visit to the hospital, though Adorno claimed otherwise.
During the trial, the parties negotiated a $250,000/$75,000
high/low agreement. RESULT: The jury found that the defendants were liable for Adomo’s fall, but Adorno was assigned 35-percent comparative negligence. The jury determined that Adomo’s damages totaled $950,000. The comparative-negligence reduction would have produced a net recovery of $617,500, but Adorno’s recovery was reduced to the high/low agreement’s $250,000 maximum amount.
ALICE ADORNO: $200,000 past pain and suffering. Plus $750,000 future pain and suffering (25.6 years) = $950,000
INSURER(S): QBE Insurance Co. for all defendants TRIAL DETAILS: Trial Length: 8 days. Jury Deliberations: 5.5 hours. Jury Vote: 6-0. Jury Composition: 3 male, 3 female
PLAINTIFF EXPERT(S): John J. Flynn, P.E., engineering, Rowayton, CT; Joyce Goldenberg, M.D., physical medicine, New York, NY ; Howard Levy, orthopedics, New York, NY
DEFENSE EXPERT(S): Maurice Carter, M.D.., orthopedics, New York, NY; James A. Parr, P.E., engineering, Eatontown, NJ (did not testify)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This report is based on information that
was provided by plaintiff’s and defense counsel. |
