Liability was not an issue after defendant Aristotle Proskinitopoulos rear-ended Alcione Goncalves' Ford F-150 truck in Fairfield in August 2017, as the driver admitted to being distracted because he was changing the radio station.

Even though the defense didn't take issue with accepting responsibility, it pushed back against what Goncalves did soon after the two-car collision, claiming she had surgery too soon on her lower back.

Plaintiffs counsel MIchael Rosnick, a partner with Miller, Rosnick, D'Amico, August & Butler in Bridgeport, said the defense claimed his client "was rushed to surgery."

"We said my client's doctors followed her treating physician's recommendations," the attorney said.

Another defense argument, Rosnick said, was to point out that his 43-year-old client had a prior history of back pain. That too, the attorney said, was countered "by the treating physician, who clearly opined that the cause of the disc issues and the necessity for surgery was causally related to the 2017 motor vehicle collision."

Then, Rosnick said, there was the plaintiff herself. Goncalves, he said, was an immigrant from Brazil "who was a pleasant and humble woman. I told her story on her behalf. She was a very good witness."

Goncalves' story of how she struggled with her injuries and fought her way back appeared to bolster her claim. Mediator, retired Judge Robert Holzberg of Pullman & Comley, oversaw the $687,500 settlement.

The injuries were many to Goncalves and her passenger—her 9-year-old daughter—according to the October 2018 lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court.

While Goncalves has surgery to her lower back, she also, the lawsuit said, suffered from neck pain; reduced range of motion of her cervical spine; pain, numbness and tingling in both legs and right shoulder; muscle spasms; headaches; and bruises, sprains and contusions of her body and limbs.

Her daughter, who was not as injured, had minor soft-tissue injury, Rosnick said.

Proskinitopoulos, who was driving a Jeep Wrangler, was behind the plaintiff's vehicle heading west on Tunxis Hill Cutoff, a public highway in Fairfield, according to the lawsuit.

As Goncalves proceeded to slow down for oncoming traffic, the defendant's Jeep, the lawsuit said, "suddenly and unexpectedly collided" into the back of the Goncalves vehicle.

Proskinitopoulos was issued a police infraction for following too closely.

Goncalves, her attorney said, incurred more than $250,000 in medical expenses.

Rosnick said he sought the initial $1 million insurance policy from the insurance carrier, The Hartford. The defense's first offer, Rosnick said, was for about $325,000.

Representing the defendant was Pamela LeBlanc of the Law Offices of David J. Mathis in Hartford. LeBlanc declined to comment for this report.

In court pleadings, the defense admitted liability, acknowledging the defendant failed to keep a proper lookout. As to the extent of the Goncalves' injuries, the defense said the plaintiffs would have to prove their case.

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