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Case: Doreen Bergamo v. Franklin Williams, and Verizon New York
Attorney: omas A. Moore
Firm: Kramer, Dillof, Livingston, & Moore Date: 5/8/2012
Verdict: $40,800,000
By Len Maniace
A disabled man who was struck and seriously injured by a Verizon truck in Bensonhurst was awarded $40.8 million by a Brooklyn jury.
Matthew V. Falcone Jr., who was 49 at the time of the Sept. 7, 2006 accident, was attempting to cross Stillwell Avenue near its intersec- tion with Bay 43rd Street when the Verizon truck driven by Franklin Williams struck him. Falcone, who was receiving Social Security dis- ability bene ts, suffered head and brain injuries when he was struck.
Acting as Falcone’s guardian, sister Doreen Bergamo sued the truck’s driver, Franklin Williams, and the truck’s owner, Verizon New York, charging negligence. Falcone’s attorney Thomas A. Moore, of Kramer, Dillof, Livingston, & Moore, contended that Williams was inattentive and unaware that he had even struck Falcone.
make a semi-U-turn in front of the driver to stop him and said ‘Do you realize you hit somebody back there,’” Moore said.
Falcone suffered fractures of his face, brain bleeding and a coma that lasted several weeks, leading to a permanent paralysis of his left side. In addition, the plaintiff maintained that his right side remained weak; he was confined to a wheelchair, and suffered
The defendant’s attorney, however, maintained that Falcone walked out from behind a pillar that supports the elevated subway line on Stillwell Avenue and into the truck. A key point in the trial, Moore said, came during the testimo-
ny of Williams’ supervisor who
insisted that Falcone had struck
the side of the Verizon truck,
scraping the truck’s side and one
of its side-view mirrors. Moore
presented photographs showing
damage to the truck’s windshield
and front end, which he argued
proved it was the truck’s front
end that had struck Falcone.
“So clearly the story that Molly had walked into the side of the truck and that all the damage was to the side of the truck was false,” Moore said.
In addition, Moore presented a witness who was driving in the opposite direction on Stillwell Avenue at the time of the accident; the witness testi ed that Williams did not intend to stop after the collision until the witness blocked Williams’ path with his vehicle.
“This witness saw the accident and saw the guy keep going so he
speech impairment, diminished cognitive abilities and incontinence.
As a result, Falcone requires assistance in grooming and hygienic functions leading him to reside in a rehabilitation facil- ity. Moore further contended that Falcone’s cognitive abilities would diminish without rehabilitation.
Bergamo sought recovery of her brother’s past and future medical expenses, his future expenses of daily living, the cost of modifying his residence, and damages for his past and future pain and suffering.
The two week trial before state Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Knipel included seven hours of jury deliberation before that panel issued its verdict in May 2010, nding in favor of Falcone and awarding him $40.8 million. The damages included $30 million in past pain and suffering; $5.4 million in future pain and suffering; $3.9 million for cost of future supporting care; $452,000 cost of future mobility/transportation; future daycare costs, and $250,000 for the cost of future medication.
4 November 2015
“SO CLEARLY THE STORY THAT MATTY HAD WALKED INTO THE SIDE OF THE TRUCK AND THAT ALL THE DAMAGE WAS TO THE SIDE OF THE TRUCK WAS FALSE,” MOORE SAID.