New Haven Jury Awards $3.2M to Woman Who Suffered Brain Injury in Fall on Ice
A jury Oct. 25 awarded Kimberly Taherian $3.2M after she fell on accumulated snow and ice and suffered a brain injury.
October 29, 2019 at 01:35 PM
4 minute read
A New Haven Superior Court jury has awarded $3.24 million to a 50-year-old Guilford woman, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after falling on an accumulation of snow and ice outside a CVS Pharmacy in her hometown.
The six-person jury rendered its verdict in favor of plaintiff Kimberly Taherian, against defendant Finast Acquisition LLC, after deliberating for 1 1/2 days.
Plaintiffs counsel Stewart Casper said he believed he was able to sway the jury by showing the brain injuries his client suffered would most likely be lifelong.
"There has been a sea change in this area of medicine and law, and the problem, I believe, for the defense in these cases, is that they are still trying the cases as they were tried decades ago," said Casper, co-owner of Stamford-based Casper & de Toledo. "They are trying cases saying, 'Everyone gets better,' and that is not the science."
Casper said after the verdict, he and opposing counsel, Boston-based Marc Finkel, met for lunch with most of the jurors. He said those jurors believed his client's brain injuries were not likely to improve.
"The takeaway from our lunch with the jurors was that they thought the condition of the defendant's premises was atrocious," Casper said. "And they believed that my client had sustained a brain injury that had significant and lasting consequences."
Finkel is of counsel for Freeman Mathis & Gary. He declined to comment on the case. His client, Finast, managed and controlled the strip mall on Boston Post Road in Guilford, where Taherian fell, according to the amended September 2018 complaint. He could appeal the verdict, but opposing counsel says he sees no appealable issues.
|19 Witnesses
Defense counsel Casper teamed with colleague Elizabeth Jones to handle the litigation.
Casper said Taherian fell on her head, after slipping on the ice and snow near the entrance of the CVS Pharmacy in February 2015.
He said Taherian had a laceration that required staples to the back of her head. He said a headache specialist now treats Taherian. Casper added that his client, who was a computer programmer, now has constant headaches and problems sleeping.
"She can't engage in prolonged activity and she is sensitive to bright lights and loud noises," he said. The prognosis will "more likely that not be on a lifetime course of migraine therapy which includes Botox injections into her scalp on a quarterly basis."
The plaintiff's side had 19 witnesses testify during the three-week trial. The bulk of the witnesses were individuals specializing in medical and technical matters. Taherian also testified at trial, her attorney said.
"Her testimony was typical of someone experiencing processing and word-finding problems," Casper said.
The defense, Casper said, had about six witnesses including a neurologist and a neuropsychologist.
The initial lawsuit cited Finast Acquisition and Shorehaven Landscape LLC as defendants. Casper said Shorehaven agreed to pay the plaintiff's side $325,000 to be withdrawn from the lawsuit. Of that $325,000, Casper said, the plaintiff's side would keep $100,000 and $225,000 would be placed in escrow, pending a resolution of a cross-claim Finast filed against Shorehaven.
Finast alleged in that cross-claim, which is still pending, that Shorehaven was in total control of the snow and ice abatement in the parking lot.
Shorehaven's attorney, Jonathan Beatty of Hamden-based Esty & Buckmir, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The defense, in court papers, alleged Taherian was negligent for her own fall. Among other things, the papers state, Taherian failed to keep a proper and reasonable lookout of her surroundings, and didn't take the weather conditions into consideration when exiting her car near the CVS Pharmacy.
Related stories:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllRead the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome,' DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
3 minute readApple Asks Judge to 'Follow the Majority Practice' in Dismissing Patent Dispute Over Night Vision Technology
'Don't Be Afraid to Dumb It Down': Top Fed Magistrate Judge Gives Tips on Explaining Complex Discovery Disputes
State High Court Adopts Modern Standard for Who Keeps $70K Engagement Ring After Breakup
Trending Stories
- 1Scan In Progress: Litigators Leverage AI to Screen Prospective Jurors
- 2Matt Gaetz Weighs Future Role at Morgan & Morgan
- 3Amended 'Grieving Families' Bill Seeks Update to NY's 1847 Wrongful Death Statute
- 4As Global Law Firm Mergers Keep Coming, Will There Ever Be a New Swiss Verein?
- 5Nervous System: Grace Hopper’s Neutral Corner
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250