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A New Britain jury awarded over $1.7 million dollars to a 22 year old Avon woman who was badly burned on her back when she caught fire while standing next to a propane heater. The Christian Youth Fellowship d/b/a Mountain Lake Bible Camp, Inc., in Warren, Connecticut, permitted a caretaker to perform personal repairs to his son’s truck in a small garage on its property. The caretaker’s son and our client were in the garage for a couple of hours when the caretaker came to check on them. They said it was cold and asked him to bring a propane tank so they could light the construction style, top hat heater. The heater was so old that the labeling was worn off and nobody would determine the make or model. The fire investigators testified that similar units have a clear to combustible of 6 to 10 feet.

Although our client admitted to hospital personnel that she was standing too close to the heater and caught fire, the jury found her just 20% at fault. The defense argued that plaintiff was a trespasser. We argued that she was a gratuitous licensee by virtue of the owner of the bible camp not objecting to other friends of the caretaker’s son who he discovered in the garage weeks earlier.

Nobody claimed ownership of the heater. The defendants blamed the caretaker for supplying the propane, the son for lighting the heater and the both of them for not warning the plaintiff to stand back. The Warren fire marshal and state trooper fire investigator agreed that the heater was not supposed to be used inside a building filled with flammable and combustible materials. The Warren fire marshal testified that the garage should have had a fire extinguisher.

Plaintiff filed an offer of compromise for $925,000.00 within 18 months of the return date, so approximately $220,000.00 in interest will be added to the verdict when the court enters judgment.

Attorney Monique Foley and certified legal intern Cara Cavallari assisted Attorney Ferry at trial.

We filed suit to obtain money damages for acts of abuse and neglect. Our office obtained over 30,000 pages of documents from the defendant’s long term care facility. We hired an expert in administration of long term care facilities, a psychologist to provide expert opinion on the long term consequences of physical and emotional abuse, and a life care planner to determine the expenses for future medical needs due to the abuse. We expertly picked apart in deposition the president of the company and the managers who failed to properly hire, train, and supervise the employees who committed the abuse. The end result was a very satisfying settlement for our two clients.

Jury awarded $2,800,000.00 to Plaintiff and $90,000.00 to Plaintiff’s wife. Plaintiff’s award was reduced to $2,044,000.00 after jury found Plaintiff 27% comparatively at fault. Final verdict $2,134,000.00.

Construction site work zone injury brought under the exception to worker’s compensation statute– negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

Plaintiff sustained foot injury after being run over by a 2,000-lb. trailer towing a 7,200 lb. Skid-Steer bobcat. Eyewitness standing next to Plaintiff testified that Plaintiff walked into the path of the trailer.

The Defense hired an engineer to scientifically test Plaintiff’s version of the accident, testifying that it could not have possibly happened the way that Plaintiff said.

Defense had over 130 hours of surveillance of Plaintiff, and had but 13 hours of tape. Defense showed around 1 hour of tape, while we showed around 1 hour and 10 min. of the surveillance to prove how bad Plaintiff’s injuries really were.

We also called a truck driving expert, pain management doctor, and an orthopedist to trial.

Travelers Insurance Company had a 1-million-dollar insurance policy and an umbrella policy above that. Travelers’ highest offer was $500,000.00. Several judges who pre-tried the case suggested the case would settle for 1 million dollars and in New Britain, it would be hard to convince a New Britain jury to provide a verdict higher than that. This case proved that a New Britain jury can be fair and care about people who are injured.

A man assaulted at a fast food restaurant by an employee recovers a confidential amount from the fast food restaurant. We alleged negligent training, negligent supervision, and negligent hiring. This case settled after several depositions of the manager and employees on duty as well as the orthopedic surgeon who operated on our client.

A Wal-Mart shopper was entering the store on a rainy day and slid on the wet floor and landed on her back. Several months later, she developed increased neck symptoms and ultimately had neck surgery.

Man Wearing Wrong T-Shirt Assaulted and Drowns.