For many pizza lovers, the cheese is the best part of the pie.

But for one deliveryman, it proved catastrophic.

Domino's National Commissary employee Mohammed Hassan was delivering about 400 pounds of cheese when his hand truck slipped and slammed into his knee and ankle.

He settled a workers' compensation claim on April 14 for $180,000.

“My client is obviously limited because of his injury, but considering the weight of the cheese, he is lucky his injuries are not a lot worse,” attorney Brooke Goff said Tuesday.

Hassan injured his left ankle, left knee and back in June 2016 while delivering cheese to a Domino's restaurant in East Granby. His hand truck was wet from rain, and it slid and smashed into him.

Brooke Goff of Goff Law Group in Shelton. Courtesy photo

The impact caused him to fall on his back.

Hassan, a 55-year-old Meriden resident, was forced to leave his job immediately, according to his attorney. He wore a leg brace for six months, had a fractured left foot and got a torn meniscus repaired, Goff said. He also needed several injections to his left ankle to alleviate pain and improve mobility. His attorney said knee-replacement surgery is also a possibility because of lingering pain.

“At first, the defense denied everything,” Goff said. “We had to go back and forth to get the claim accepted.”

Domino's National Commissary hired three doctors, but Goff said they all agreed Hassan's injuries were related to his fall.

“It took months of delays, though,” Goff said.

Goff settled the case with Samantha Levasseur, attorney for Domino's and Sedgwick Insurance, the company's carrier, in front of Hartford-based workers' compensation commissioner Ernie Walker.

Levasseur, of Goldberg Segalla in Hartford, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Domino's initial offer was $100,000, against the plaintiff's $325,000 demand. Its insurer paid Hassan the $180,000 settlement last week.

Meanwhile, Goff said Hassan considers himself lucky to have escaped more serious injuries from the hundreds of pounds of dairy.