Vested Interest - Tort Briefs - March 2007 Issue

March 2007 Issue > News > Torts

Jury Awards Victim Broadsided by Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy

Following a two week trial, the jury returned an award for a 51-year-old woman who sustained severe brain stem injury causing quadriplegia and cranial nerve injuries when she was broadsided by a Cook County Sheriff’s police officer traveling through a red light at approximately 70 miles per hour while en route to a low-priority ‘unwanted subject’ call as an un-requested backup unit. The plaintiff was required to prove, and the jury found, that the officer’s conduct was willful and wanton. Defendants claimed that the officer was on an emergency call and was justified in her actions going through the intersection. Plaintiff’s attorneys were able to exclude evidence of alcohol due to unreliable testing and a showing that the client was not impaired and that alcohol played no part in the collision.

Funeral Home Agrees to Settle Claim for Wrongful Disposition of Human Remains

In what is believed to be the first settlement of a wrongful disposition of human remains claim in Illinois, plaintiff’s attorneys were able to obtain a confidential settlement amount from M.J. Suerth Funeral Home on plaintiff’s claim of wrongful disposition of human remains stemming from the funeral home’s burial of the stillborn child’s body without the consent of the parents after the child was stillborn at Westlake Community Hospital. As a result, the parents were deprived of the ability to dispose of the remains of their child in a dignified and appropriate manner. The settlement occurred after the appellate court reversed and remanded the decision of the trial court to grant defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Hospital Agrees to Settlement Before Closing Arguments in Pre-Natal Death Trial

After a two-and-a-half week trial but before closing arguments, Westlake Community Hospital agreed to a settlement in a case brought on behalf of a 29-year-old woman whose child was stillborn when a nurse failed to appropriately read the fetal monitor and summon a doctor’s assistance when the monitor indicated that the baby was in distress. As a result of the nurse’s negligence, the baby died in the mother’s abdomen before being delivered.

Ironworker Falls Down Hole, Injures Spine

A 38-year-old ironworker was working on the construction of a new shopping mall on the south side of Chicago. One of the other construction companies on the jobsite cut a hole in the pavement that went down about 10 feet, then covered it with a large piece of plywood. When the plaintiff was told by his employer to move the plywood, he fell down into the hole as he stepped forward to hoist the plywood over his head. He suffered a broken collarbone and an aggravation of a degenerative disk at L5-S1 that eventually required surgery, and was never able to return to work as an ironworker. Suit was filed against three of the construction companies that did work on the jobsite, and they each tried to blame the others, claiming that they were not responsible for making the hole or marking the plywood with the word “HOLE,” as required by OSHA. After an-all day mediation, the case settled.

Verdict for Wrongful Death of Mentally Ill Man and False Imprisonment of Elderly Sisters

Two elderly women called police to report that their brother, a veteran with a long history of mental illness, had barricaded himself in the basement of their home and was chopping up furniture with an axe. Police arrive at the scene of the home and spoke to the hospital nurse from who arrived to give the man a shot of Haldol. After the police arrived, the man made a chilling 911 call requesting that police come to his home because prowlers, with guns, dressed up like policemen were trying to get into his home. The man stated it was just like the “Valentine day murders.” Rather than wait, the police arrested both elderly sisters (no crime committed) and began removing the man’s barricade despite the fact that the man would charge stairs with axe in hand every time the police tried to enter the basement. After the third attempt in removing the barricade, the man was able to get upstairs with axe over his head. Police shot him eight times while in his kitchen. Jury found in favor of plaintiff on wrongful death and survival action and two counts of false imprisonment for the elderly sisters.

Using Blackberry While Driving Leads to Crash and Settlement

A settlement was reached involving a car-van crash case. The case arose when a 70-year-old women entered an intersection, and her vehicle was struck by a van driven by defendant. The woman was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where she would undergo five surgeries. She sustained multiple injuries including a fractured pelvis, internal injuries including a punctured heart, a cervical injury requiring two fusion surgeries and bleeding on the brain. Her medical bills totaled over $750,000. Upon release, she underwent further therapy. During discovery, it was revealed that the defendant was lost and using his Blackberry with an installed navigation device to locate his destination. He was not able to testify whether he had a green light. Fortunately, two witnesses stayed on the scene and later testified that the defendant ran the red light. The defense admitted liability.

Fire Department Paramedic / Fire Fighter Case Settled

A paramedic/fire fighter/assistant dive-master who suffered hearing loss at work settled his case. As part of his duties as the assistant dive-master, the plaintiff was at a fire station and in the process of performing certain maintenance work on dive equipment. While the plaintiff was working, an employee of Hoosier Fire Equipment, Inc. entered to perform maintenance work on the fire equipment. When servicing the fire equipment, the Hoosier employee leaned over the steering wheel and activated the air horn. At the time of the of the air horn blast, plaintiff was kneeling directly in front of the air horn and was not aware the Hoosier employee was on the engine. Plaintiff suffered moderate hearing loss in one ear and severe hearing loss in the other. He is no longer able to function in his chosen vocation as a paramedic/fire fighter.

Pharmacy Error Nets Jury Award

A South Carolina jury returned an award for woman after she lost the use of her only kidney when a drugstore gave her five times the amount of medication she was supposed to take. Plaintiff went to an Eckerd pharmacy to get a prescription for an anti-rejection drug for her kidney transplant. They did not have enough of the steroid, prednisone, so a technician called a CVS pharmacy store to fill the prescription. But a miscommunication between the two stores resulted in the plaintiff being told to take 1250 milligrams a day of the drug for three days rather than 250 milligrams. The CVS computer system flagged the prescription, but a worker filled it using a manual override. The plaintiff was soon hospitalized and again needed a new kidney. Following a two-week trial, a judge ordered Eckerd Corp. to pay plaintiff for its role in the medicine mix-up. Co-defendants CVS, reached a confidential settlement with plaintiff for an undisclosed amount as the jury deliberated.