Dorene Morgillo-Sikorski was walking in the parking lot of a Meriden Big Y in 2016 when a shopping cart she was walking with went into this large pothole causing her to fall forward and on top of the cart. Courtesy photo

The attorney for a 61-year-old Meriden woman got a $185,000 settlement after she injured her left hip, knee and leg when the shopping cart she was rolling in a Big Y supermarket parking lot went into a pothole, causing her body to go over the cart.

In a case where the plaintiff's delay in getting medical care might have favored the defense, Hartford-based attorney Brooke Goff said she was able to work around it.

Plaintiff Dorene Morgillo-Sikorski did not seek treatment for her injuries for five months and, Goff said, the defense used that during settlement negotiations. And Goff expected it to come into play, had the case gone to trial.

"That was a huge challenge for us," said Goff, a principal of Goff Law Group. "It was difficult to prove, but our argument was that she was in the middle of a workers' compensation claim for surgery on one of her hands not related to this accident, We claimed she was on painkillers after the hand surgery, and that was masking the pain to her hip and other parts of her body."

According to a January 2018 lawsuit filed in Meriden Superior Court, Morgillo-Sikorski was walking in the parking lot of the Meriden Big Y supermarket with a shopping cart in April 2016 when the cart went into a large pothole.

"The cart went through the pothole and her body went over the cart," Goff told the Connecticut Law Tribune. "She came down on her knees and hurt the entire left side of her body." The plaintiff landed on the shopping cart and not on the ground, Goff said.

Morgillo-Sikorski underwent two surgeries to her left hip, Goff said. There were complications with the first surgery, so she needed a second one.

Morgillo-Sikorski received the settlement money, paid through The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., on Nov. 6.

Goff initially sought $500,000, while the defense team's first offer was $30,000.

Today, three and a half years after the incident, Morgillo-Sikorski "still has limitations," Goff said. "She has pain in her hip on a regular basis and she walks with a little bit of a limp."

A secretary, Morgillo-Sikorski missed several weeks from work, Goff said, but made no claim for lost wages.

Stuart Abramson, an attorney with the Hartford-based Law Office of David J. Mathis, represented defendants Big Y Foods Inc., TLS Group LLC and Hampton Properties Inc. He did not respond to a request for comment. His clients owned, controlled and maintained the supermarket's parking lot and surrounding sidewalks.

In court papers, the defense pinned blame on Morgillo-Sikorski, arguing she wasn't careful and alert about where she was walking.

All things considered, Goff said the settlement was a fair one.

"It's difficult as an attorney to try a case when there was no treatment for five months, and you have such a significant injury," Goff said. "The jury does not want to hear that you were taking vacations and not going to the doctor."

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