Truck Driving Instructor Awarded $580K

Connecticut Law Tribune: Truck Driving Instructor Awarded $580K After Car Crash:
Truck Driving Instructor Awarded $580K After Car Crash
Connecticut Law Tribune
Monday, April 23, 2012 Copyright 2012, ALM Properties, Inc.

Truck Driving Instructor Awarded $580K After Car Crash, Back injuries led to verdict, which was reduced by insurance policy limits

By CHRISTIAN NOLAN

"Carolyn Champagne-Haire v. Dorma J. Hughes, et al.: A truck driving instructor who was injured in a Rockville car crash was recently awarded nearly $580,000 by a jury, though because of insurance policy limits she will actually receive much less.

Carolyn Champagne-Haire, 50, of Vernon, was traveling on Union Street in Rockville on the morning of Oct. 27, 2006, according to her lawyer, Jason L. McCoy, also of Vernon. At the time, Champagne-Haire was working as an instructor for the New England Tractor Trailer Training School.

Another driver, Dorma J. Hughes, suddenly pulled out into the busy traffic of Union Street and collided head-on with Champagne-Haire’s vehicle. Fortunately, neither vehicle was moving at a high rate of speed, so the collision itself wasn’t all that bad, McCoy noted.

The attorney said that Hughes was clearly at fault for the crash and that she was an uninsured driver. “This person pulled out and basically drove into [Champagne-Haire] head-on,” said McCoy. “It wasn’t a terrible car wreck. But obviously the problems she’s had [since the accident] were really bad.”

McCoy said Champagne-Haire has had back problems ever since the crash. After an MRI a couple years after the accident revealed the extent of her injuries, she ultimately needed a lumbar fusion surgery.

Immediately after the crash, Champagne-Haire went to a chiropractor for her back pain. The same chiropractor had previously treated her for neck and back pain. A longtime tractor-trailer driver, McCoy said his client was prone to having a sore neck from long hours on the road.

After eventually getting discharged from treatment by the chiropractor, Champagne-Haire stopped seeking any medical attention for a year-and-a-half, as McCoy noted that she devoted much of her time caring for an ailing husband who had heart problems.

However, McCoy said during that entire time, Champagne-Haire would take Advil during the day and Tylenol PM at night to cope with all the back pain she continued to experience.

Finally, she sought out an orthopedic doctor in Hartford. An MRI revealed the extent of damage to her low back and the need for a fusion surgery. Her surgery date was delayed, however, because she fell and broke her ankle. She had the fusion surgery roughly a year before her late 2011 trial.

McCoy explained that because the negligent driver, Hughes, was uninsured, he had to name Allstate Insurance, Champagne-Haire’s car insurance carrier, as a party to the lawsuit in order to recover underinsured motorist benefits.

Allstate was represented in the case by Peter Menard of the Law Office of Mark S. Gilcreast in Hartford. Menard did not return calls seeking comment.

McCoy said defense attorney Menard acknowledged that Hughes was negligent in causing the crash, but he argued that all of Champagne-Haire’s back problems pre-dated the accident. He further argued that any pain she did have as a result of the crash must have gone away if she was discharged by the chiropractor and did not seek other treatment for an additional 18 months before seeing the orthopedist, Dr. W. Jay Krompinger.

Prior to trial, McCoy said, the insurance company attorney offered just $16,000 to settle the case.
The case went to trial in the Judicial District of Tolland at Rockville over three days in December, with Judge Robert B. Shapiro presiding.

McCoy said the testimony of Champagne-Haire’s witnesses were crucial. They included a supervisor at the tractor-trailer driving school and a kindergarten teacher for whom Champagne-Haire had served as a homeroom mom. The plaintiff has three children, McCoy noted.

McCoy said the kindergarten teacher explained how she could tell that Champagne-Haire was in pain in the classroom on the day of the crash. She also described how in the following days and weeks Champagne-Haire had a great deal of difficulty handling the young, energetic children. The witness went on to detail all the types of movements and bending that gave Champagne-Haire trouble in the classroom.

The kindergarten teacher told the jury that Champagne-Haire never showed any signs of back discomfort prior to the accident in her interactions with the children.

The supervisor at the truck-driving school also testified that Champagne-Haire was an exemplary employee prior to the crash.

McCoy said the witness from the training school said something to the effect of “she was like our best instructor and just went downhill after this.”

The predominantly female jury (only one male) came back with a verdict of $579,943. Of that amount, $400,000 was for non-economic damages. McCoy noted that Champagne-Haire may need additional back surgery.

“I don’t think the arguments of a pre-existing condition really went any place” with the jury, said McCoy.

After the verdict, Menard, the defense lawyer, filed a motion to set aside the verdict and have a new trial; Judge Shapiro turned down that motion last month. McCoy’s motion requesting interest and attorney fees was also denied by the judge.

Because Champagne-Haire’s uninsured motorist coverage policy limit was $100,000, Judge Shapiro last month ruled that despite the jury verdict of nearly $580,000, Allstate had to pay only the $100,000.

Overall, McCoy said his client was pleased, as the award will pay off liens from medical providers and greatly exceeds the $16,000 the defense offered to settle the case — or the $40,000 to $50,000 the plaintiffs would have likely accepted to settle the case pre-trial. “She’s a nice lady,” said McCoy. “It was a good result. She was happy.”•"
eMarketing Blogs Directory - Listing of Internet marketing blogs. Find a quality blog in our directory or submit yours.
Emarketingblogs.com allows us to keep you informed. 

attorney, lawyers, injuries, bankrupt,bankruptcy attorneys, filing bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, find a lawyer, what is bankruptcy, what is personal injury, what is a criminal lawyer, bankruptcy list
personal injury cases, personal injury lawsuits, personal injury compensation, federal criminal defense, federal criminal defense attorney

Verdict for Connecticut State Trooper Underinsured Motorist

Jury Gives Trooper $527K For Neck Injuries
Officer needed spinal surgery, internal hardware after crash

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

March 9, 2009

Darren Perillo v. Eric Jacobs, State of Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety: A Connecticut state trooper was awarded more than $527,000 after an accident that left him with a badly injured neck.

Trooper Darren Perillo was driving on Route 1 in East Haven, when another motorist pulled onto the road and, Perillo contended, cut in front of his cruiser. The impact crushed the front of the cruiser, and caused injuries that were difficult to quickly diagnose.

After a few weeks of recuperation from the April 2006 collision, Perillo returned to light duty work, and even went back to playing softball. By August, his teammates were criticizing him for not being able to hit a ball out of the infield. Perillo’s lawyer, Jason McCoy of Vernon, said: “After one of the games he was having difficulty holding his sports bag over his head. He couldn’t really do it with his right arm.”

The first neurosurgeon he saw diagnosed him with nerve impingement which could be treated with physical therapy.Perillo sought a second opinion from Dr. Gary M. Bloomgarden, of Woodbridge, who ordered an MRI scan, which showed a herniated disc. In February 2007, Perillo began joint injections of anesthetics, which eased his pain but did not eliminate the problem.

The next step was a big one. Spinal surgery was recommended, which required removal of a disc, going in from the front. “They cut your throat, move your esophagus to the side, they take out the disc,” said McCoy. “Then they put in a piece of plastic, and screw a piece side of metal from one vertebrae to another vertebrae.” Perillo required 20 weeks to recover from the surgery, and began physical therapy to regain arm and chest strength. Demonstrative Aid by High Impact Graphics.

McCoy explained that arrest subjects often ride in the passenger seat, and the trooper’s right arm is not only his “weapon hand,” it’s also closest to the person being transported.

Having full use of his right arm was important, McCoy said. The driver of the other vehicle in the accident had a $20,000 insurance policy, which was tendered in full. At that point, the state of Connecticut became the liability defendant for the underinsured portion of the claim. Perillo had $1 million in coverage under the state’s self-insured uninsured motorist policy.

The trooper had collected $30,000 in workers’ compensation payments from the state. Early in the case, the state contended that it should not have to pay those, alleging that Perillo was driving too fast or following too closely.

McCoy, in pretrial negotiations, made a demand for $370,000. The state, defended by Ronald D. Williams Jr., of Williams, Cooney & Sheehy in Trumbull, offered $200,000 before trial.

Good Defense McCoy, of the McCoy Law Firm in Vernon, is also the town’s mayor. He was politic in his comments about Williams’ defense work. “The defense attorney did a pretty good job with the issue of speeding, contending it was our guy’s fault and that he wasn’t hurt,” said
McCoy. But the defense case was hurt by an investigation by the state police which found that Perillo was not speeding, and even though it was a rear-end collision, he was not at fault.

Also, McCoy maintains, the defense was not helped by the testimony of one of its witnesses. Orthopedic surgeon Andrew N. Bazos did a review of Perillo’s medical records but never examined him. “Dr. Andrew Bezos said it wasn’t a herniation, and that no reasonable
person would say the surgery was related to the accident. The trooper had, the year before, some chiropractic [work done]. It was maintenance stuff, from sitting in his car too long. That was a big deal with the defense. The defendants’ expert said the MRI didn’t look
like a herniation,” jason mccoy'>McCoy said.

But, according to comments from the jury after the trial, Bezos was unconvincing because his testimony was so absolute about gray medical areas, McCoy said. In answers to other questions, such as whether he had ever met Perillo before, Bezos equivocated, which also did not help him with jurors, McCoy said.

Williams argued that Perillo’s back pain was pre-existing, and noted that he had been treating with a chiropractor for 22 visits six months before the crash.

“The big issue was whether the herniated disc, for which Trooper Perillo underwent the fusion, was related to the accident,” Williams said. “He was treated by a chiropractor for about three months. He tried to minimize it. The records were destroyed in a flood. He said the neck pain [requiring the chiropractic sessions] spontaneously came on.”

After a three-day trial before New Haven Superior Court Judge John F. Cronan, the jury returned a $555,505 verdict for Perillo on Feb. 2. It was reduced by about $28,000 on a finding of 5 percent negligence on Perillo’s part. His economic damages were about $115,500. Pain and suffering damages were $440,000.

The litigants are currently disputing whether $190,000 in past payouts to Perillo should be subtracted from the verdict, or from his $1 million state uninsured motorist policy.

Of the $440,000 in noneconomic damages, Williams said: “It’s hard to say whether that’s high or not. He has a lot of metal hardware on his spine, so that’s worth some money.”

The trooper made a good impression at trial, Williams noted: “He was a nice guy, I’ll say that. I gave him a hearty handshake and a hug when he won. I’m a good sport.”•

Connecticut Law Tribune : Verdicts & Settlements

...
trial

jury

jason mccoy


john grisham

torts

connecticut lawyer

personal injury