Armed with a police body camera video that showed her client writhing in pain after falling, and a police report noting the uneven sidewalk, plaintiffs attorney Pamela Cameron was looking for a little more to make her case airtight.

At issue was plaintiff Pamela Goriah's fall on an Ansonia sidewalk, which Cameron said had a 3/4 inch gap.

Already on Social Security disability because of severe osteoarthritis in both knees, 57-year-old Goriah had to convince the defense that damage to her left knee, which would need a knee replacement, was due, in large part, to the fall.

"We were able to get her orthopedic surgeon who performed the left knee replacement to give us an opinion that the fall was a substantial factor in causing the need for the left knee replacement," said Cameron, a partner with Middlebury-based Moore, O'Brien & Foti Attorneys at Law. "The fact that we had that opinion was very helpful as there was a major surgery. I think it helped give us a little more ammunition in the mediation because it increased [the insurance carrier's] risk somewhat."

The police report stating the sidewalk was uneven and that Goriah was in excruciating pain and the orthopedic surgeon's opinion helped sway defense counsel to agree on paying Goriah $175,000 following a six-hour Zoom mediation hearing with retired Judge Michael Riley of Pullman & Comley on April 16, Cameron said.

"If a jury believed our doctor, it could have meant a much higher verdict" if the case had gone to trial, Cameron said Tuesday.

Assisting Cameron in the case was colleague Emily Cadman.

There were several defendants in the case. They were AGS Ansonia, which owned and maintained the property, Commercial Maintenance of Connecticut LLC, FNLAM LLC and Goldblum Ansonia LLC. The latter three companies, Cameron said, were responsible for the maintenance and inspection of the area where her client fell in September 2018.

An amended 18-page lawsuit was filed in May 2019 in Milford Superior Court.

In addition to knee replacement surgery, Goriah, a Seymour resident, also had surgery to her left arm, her attorney said. The plaintiff's medical bills were about $156,000.

Today, Cameron said, Goriah still has pain in her left arm and both knees. "She is very religious and, when she kneels in church, there is a lot of pain," Cameron said.

Representing the defense was attorney John Mayano of Hartford-based Law Offices of David J. Mathis. Mayano did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In court pleadings, however, the defense says any damages to the plaintiff were caused, in part, to her own negligence in that she "failed to keep and maintain a reasonable and proper lookout" and "failed to avoid a hazard that was or should have been obvious to her."

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