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#5
Case: Kusz v. Mateo, NYCTA and the MTA Attorney: Alan M. Shapey
Firm: Lipsig, Shapey, Manus & Moverman, PC Date: 8/17/2011
Verdict: $20,300,000
By Len Maniace
A Polish immigrant, having lost an arm and a leg upon being struck by a city bus as she walked to a subway station, was awarded $20.3 million by a Queens jury.
Alfreda Kusz, 59 at the time of the accident, was headed to her housekeeping job in Westchester when the bus hit her as she crossed Jackson Avenue at 23rd Street in Long Island City on June 15, 2009. She sued the bus driver–Jose Mateo–the bus operator–the New York City Transit Authority and its parent agency–the Metropolitan Trans- portation Authority.
Her counsel, Alan M. Shapey of Lipsig, Shapey, Manus & Mover- man PC in Manhattan, contended that Kusz was in the crosswalk and had the right of way when the bus turned the corner striking her, as testi ed to by the plaintiff. Furthermore, the intersection was marked by a large sign warning turning vehicles that pedestrians in the crosswalk had the right of way, Shapey said.
prosthetic device for her right leg, but following a fall in which she frac- tured the remaining portion of that leg she needed to use a wheelchair.
Some 13 months after the accident, Kusz suffered a detached retina and lost sight in that eye, which along with continuing depression, she contended, were the result of the accident. Kusz sought payment for
Finally, the accident was dramat- ically captured by a surveillance video from a nearby diner. “The light changes and you see my cli- ent step off the curb,” Shapey said ,“and this guy proceeds to make his turn and just runs her down.”
“HER LEG WAS COMPLETELY CRUSHED, HER ARM WAS COMPLETELY CRUSHED
- ESSENTIALLY AMPUTATED AT THE SCENE”
past medical expenses, $4.8 mil- lion for future medical and life-care expenses, $6 million for her past pain and suffering, and $15 million for her future pain and suffering.
Shapey had a 20-minute video pre- pared to show the jury how the accident had affected Kusz’s daily
The plaintiff’s attorney moved for summary judgment; the motion was granted.
Shapey said that his client’s injuries were horrendous; she was dragged by the bus, that or which–no woman needed to be lifted to free her. “Her leg was completely crushed, her arm was completely crushed - essentially amputated at the scene,” Shapey said, adding that Kusz remained conscious Through it all.
Kusz was in the hospital for 31⁄2 months where she underwent 20 operations, including an arm amputation above the elbow, a leg ampu- tation below the knee and skin grafts. She then received seven months of therapy and inpatient physical rehabilitation. Kusz was given a
life: her dif culty moving about and the exhausting rehabilitation exercises she needed to perform. The attorney said he believed the jury perceived Kusz as upbeat, optimistic and even inspirational in face of her injuries.
The defense’s expert orthopedist maintained that Kusz would soon be able to resume walking, and the defense counsel contended that Kusz did not suffer daily pain. Shapey said that not only did he believe the medical testimony to be ineffective, but that it may have alienated the jury, especially since it was revealed at the trial that this witness had lost his privileges to perform surgery in Connecticut.
On Aug. 17, 2011 the jury awarded Kusz with $20.3 million in damages.
12 November 2015