Page 16 - Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame: Premises Liability

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and screws. She subsequently underwent extensive physical therapy.
Brenner sued the restaurant operator and the company which pro- vided and installed the slippery entryway tiles. The premises’ owner and the premises’ manager were also named but later dismissed.
Brenner slipped in a tiled area located immediately outside of the restaurant’s entrance. The tiles were glazed, inappropriate for exterior use, and became slippery with rainwater. The restaurant placed mats inside the entrance but not on the slippery wet tiles just outside. Her counsel argued that the restaurant’s management was aware that rainfall was creating hazardous conditions, but failed to undertake proper precautions, and that Parma Tile Mosaic & Marble was negligent in recommending an indoor tile for outdoor use.
Brenner’s expert engineer opined that the tiles were non-absorptive and did not provide safe or acceptable friction for an outdoor setting. He contended that the tiles should not have been installed, but that, once they had been installed, they should have been covered by mats.
Brenner’s expert neurologist opined that extended immobilization can lead to a person’s development of vertigo; that Brenner’s poor balance could have stemmed from inner-ear damage sustained during her initial fall; that a delay of her therapy could have weakened her left leg’s quadriceps, and; that her left hip’s fracture was a residual product of the initial accident. Brenner’s treating orthopedist agreed.
The jury found that the defendants were liable for the accident. VIP’s Café Caterers was assigned 60 percent of the liability, and Parma Tile Mosaic & Marble was assigned 40 percent of the liability. The jury determined that Ms. Brenner’s damages totaled $5.7 million, which included $200,000 for past medical expenses.
Greene’s estate sought recovery of wrongful-death damages that included Greene’s lost earnings, damages for his children’s loss of guidance and care, and damages for his conscious pain and suffering.
Plaintiffs brought suit against the premises current and former restau- rant tenants; its current owner; electricians that serviced or inspected the property; the sign installer, and; the sign manufacturer. The plaintiffs alleged that the sign was improperly manufactured and installed; that its electrical supply was improperly altered by defendant Butler and/or his company; that Chaophaya Thai Restaurant was vicariously liable for Butler’s actions; that Electrical Inspection Service, LaVolpe and Cousins Electric failed to detect that the sign was not properly grounded; and that the premises’ owner and operators failed to ensure that the sign was safely wired.
Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that Tom Butler did not properly ground the sign when he performed electrical work in 1998. They further claimed that the faulty wiring was apparent, in that the sign ickered and blinked, but that Long Island Cheeseburger and its operators ignored the problem. They also claimed that Cousins Electric did not inspect the sign after the re. They argued that the sign’s unground- ed condition constituted a violation of national electric codes.
The jury rendered a mixed verdict. Long Island Cheeseburger and its operators were assigned a total of 85 percent of the liability, and Cousins Electric and LaVolpe were assigned a total of 15 percent of the liability. Liability was not assigned to Butler and his company. The jury determined that the estate’s damages totaled $5.5 million. The award will be offset by the amount of the pretrial settlement.
PREMISES LIABILITY
VERDICT & SETTLEMENTS
HALL OF FAME
Case: Brenner v. Mosholu Preservation Corp Attorney: Vito A. Cannavo
Firm: Sullivan Papain Block McGrath &
Cannavo PC. Date: February 5, 2015
Verdict: $5,700,000
Restaurant’s exterior tiles were slippery, unsafe, patron claimed
On June 5, 2009, plaintiff Merle Brenner, 70, a retiree, fell while she was exiting a restaurant that was located at 131 E. Gun Hill Road in the Norwood section of the Bronx. She sustained an injury of a knee.
Brenner sustained a compound fracture of her left knee’s patella which was addressed via open reduction and the internal xation of wire and two screws. Her hospitalization lasted ve days, she remained bedridden for 6 weeks thereafter, resulting in vertigo that delayed commencement of her physical therapy until the fall of 2009.
On Jan. 30, 2010, Brenner fell and sustained a fracture of her left hip. She claimed that her fall was a result of her vertigo and residual weak- ness of her left leg’s quadriceps muscle. Brenner’s left hip’s fracture was addressed via open reduction and the internal xation of pins
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Case: Greene v. 350 East Montauk Highway Corp. Attorney: Henry G. Miller & Lucille Fontana Firm: Clark, Gagliardi & Miller, PC.
Date: April 1, 2011
Verdict: $5,500,000
Fire ghter electrocuted by improperly wired sign
On June 16, 2006, plaintiff’s decedent Michael Greene, 43, a truck driver and a volunteer re ghter, visited the Long Island Cheeseburger restaurant that is located at 350 E. Montauk Highway, in Lindenhurst. A re had occurred at the restaurant three days earlier, and Greene was retrieving a tarp that had been left on the restaurant’s roof. During the course of that task, he was electrocuted by an electric box sign that had not been properly grounded.
Greene was electrocuted. A medical examiner opined that he was con- scious for 15 to 20 seconds before he died. Greene, 43, died June 16, 2006. He was survived by a wife and four minor children ranging in age from 3 to 14.
14 September 2016