Page 10 - Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame

MOTOR VEHICLES
VERDICT & SETTLEMENTS
HALL OF FAME
#3
Case: Niurka Andino v. Ronald Mills and the N.Y.C. Transit Authority
Attorney: Paul D. Dansker
Firm: Dansker & Aspromonte Associates Date: 3/22/2013
Verdict: $31,000,000
By Len Maniace
A New York City police sergeant injured when the patrol car she was riding in was struck by a N.Y.C. Transit Authority SUV was awarded $31 million by a Bronx jury.
Niurka Andino, who was 35 at the time of the crash, was heading north on Boston Road at the intersection with Pelham Parkway when the patrol car was struck by the SUV driven by Ronald Mills on Aug. 18, 2004.
Andino suffered injuries of her head, knees, neck and a shoulder and sued Mills and the Transit Authority. The Transit Authority then charged that the driver of the patrol car, Rafael Villegas, was negligent for proceeding through the intersec- tion against a red light and without taking proper precautions.
Attorneys for Andino contended that Mills should have yielded to the patrol car, which had its siren and emergency lights on and was not speeding. The Transit Authority’s attorney contended that the police officers could not prove they were responding to an emergency and that their logbook did not contain such a notation. Mills contended that the police vehicle appeared suddenly and had neither siren nor emergency lights activated.
Andino was represented by Paul D. Dansker of Dansker & Aspro- monte Associates who served as trial attorney and lead counsel and Jonathan Shramko, attorney of record. Dansker said some of the most compelling evidence came from an ambulance driver who was stopped at the intersection when the accident occurred.
“We had eye witness testimony that confirmed my client’s vehicle -- the police patrol car -- had lights and sirens on as it went through the red light,” Dansker said.
Following two days in a hospital, Andino claimed to have suffered a spinal disc bulge, damage to each knee and to her left shoulder, which radiated pain and numbness to her left hand. She also maintained that she suffered from a concussion
that caused brain damage resulting in blurred vision, dizziness, migraines, nausea, vertigo and memory loss. She also reported anxiety and depression.
Andino underwent two arthroscopic knees surgeries and one microfracture procedure. Her bulging disc necessitated physical therapy, the administration of epidural injections of steroid-based painkillers and pain-killing trigger-point injections.
The plaintiff attempted to resume work, but contended that her injuries prevented her from carrying out job tasks and in 2009 she retired from the force. An independent medical tribunal that year found Andino to be disabled and unable to carry out the duties of a police officer.
The defense’s expert orthopedist maintained that Andino did not sustain a concussion and that her bulging disc result- ed from an earlier degenerative condition. What’s more, she contended, Andino’s knee injuries were not disabling. Defense acknowledged her brain damage could create a disability, but insisted that Andino exaggerated the effects.
After a three-week trial in March 2013, a jury awarded $31 million to Andino that included $23 million in future pain and suffering, and $2.6 million lost future benefits; $2.4 million in lost future earnings, and $2.1 million in future medical costs.
8 November 2015