From VerdictSearch New Jersey

Spinal injury in backhoe accident leads to $2.9m award

Including prejudgment interest, a construction worker recovered $2.9 million after he was struck by a backhoe at a home-building site. William Frazier was working in Livingston and claimed a disabling spinal injury. Frazier sued PTC Excavations, the subcontractor who had hired the independent backhoe operator Pat McVicker. Frazier said that McVicker left the door of the backhoe open, obstructing his view and leading to the accident. PTC claimed that Frazier was an experienced construction worker and at least partially to blame for the accident himself. Frazier acknowledged preexisting spinal stenosis but said he was asymptomatic before the accident. The jury's gross verdict was for $2.5 million. PTC had rejected a $1 million offer of judgment.

VIEW THE FULL CASE Construction - Essex
Frazier v. PTC Excavations

Widow wins $1m after misdiagnosis of fatal bee sting allergy

A widow recovered $1 million after her husband died of an undiagnosed bee allergy. Used car salesman and auto mechanic William Hensley died of a reaction to bee stings on Aug, 30, 2005, roughly one month after a neighbor had brought him to St. Clare's Hospital in Dover after finding him unconscious near a swarm of bees. The neighbor said she told Dr. Allen Retirado and a nurse of the bees and his allergy, an account the nurse remembered but Retirado denied. Retirado diagnosed Hensley with heat stroke and another doctor, Harvey Beckman, diagnosed a seizure. The widow, Melissa Hensley, was awarded $1,670,000, which was reduced due to confidential settlement with Beckman.

VIEW THE FULL CASE Medical Malpractice - Morris
Hensley, Estate of v. Retirado

Jury says on-ramp collision did not seriously injure plaintiff

An on-ramp rear-ender that injured three people resulted in a defense verdict for the driver after the two passengers settled out of the case. Leonardo Londono was driving his sedan off Route 3 and onto Harmon Meadow Boulevard, in Secaucus, when he was rear-ended on an on-ramp. His passengers, girlfriend Micleenah Fayall and daughter Ramses Londono, settled their claims of back injuries. Londono claimed a herniated cervical disc and bulging lumbar disc which he treated with pain management and trigger point injections. The defendant, Masahiro Sakuramoto, conceded negligence but said that London only sustained tissue injuries. After London won $18,500 at a pretrial arbitration, a jury found that London was not permanently injured.

VIEW THE FULL CASE Motor Vehicle - Hudson
Fayall v. Sakuramoto