In Tomasi v. ShopRite of Woodbridge, a Woodbridge man who slipped on grapes at a ShopRite, allegedly causing him to aggravate a neck injury and undergo surgery, will receive $1.5 million under a mediated settlement in his negligence lawsuit against the grocery store reached on Feb. 25.

According to his lawyers at Gill & Chamas in Woodbridge, the man, Michael Tomasi, was walking through the produce section at ShopRite of Woodbridge on Dec. 24, 2015, when he stepped on grapes and slipped. While he did not fall, he did twist his body and try to brace himself from falling by putting his hand on the floor, the lawyers said. And he immediately felt neck pain, they added.

As a result, Tomasi, who was 60 years old when the accident happened, aggravated a preexisting neck injury, the lawyers also said. Consequently, he was required to undergo at least two surgeries, according to the lawyers, including spinal fusion surgery.

In his Middlesex County Superior Court lawsuit, in which ShopRite of Woodbridge and parent company Saker ShopRites Inc. were named defendants, Tomasi claimed that the defendants were responsible for keeping debris off of the walking surfaces in the store's produce aisle, thereby keeping patrons safe, said William Bock of Gill & Chamas, representing plaintiffs Michael Tomasi and Alison Tomasi.

Tomasi also alleged that the defendants failed to implement periodic inspections aimed at identifying and preventing slip hazards.

Moreover, he contended that the facts surrounding the incident, which took place in the produce section's self-service area, fell within the purview of New Jersey's mode-of-operation doctrine. The doctrine provides that a plaintiff will have a rebuttable presumption of negligence against a premises owner where the owner's type of business creates a dangerous condition. The doctrine can apply to slip-and-fall cases that occur in self-service food areas where it is expected that food and other substances will go to the floor.

The defendants denied responsibility for Tomasi's injuries, and disputed that they had notice of the floor's condition or that the mode-of-operation doctrine applied, according to Bock.

On Feb. 21, the lawsuit was mediated before Dennis Carey III, a retired Superior Court judge. the lawyers added. On Feb. 25, the parties reached a settlement with the ShopRite defendants for $1.5 million, Bock said.

Scott Samansky of Fishman, McIntyre, Berkeley, Levine, Samansky in East Hanover represented defendants ShopRite of Woodbridge and Saker ShopRites, Inc. He could not be reached for comment.

— Jason Grant

$1.5M for Parking Lot Fall

Gelmi v. Hartz Group: A man who injured his ankle in an icy parking lot at his workplace agreed to a $1.5 million settlement in his Union County suit on March 25.

John Gelmi arrived at his job at Classic Party Rentals in Secaucus on Feb. 18, 2014, when he slipped on some ice in the parking lot, the suit alleged. The company was a tenant in a building owned by Hartz Mountain at 550 Meadowlands Parkway.

Gelmi was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and later had several procedures performed on his left ankle that culminated in replacement of the ankle joint, said his lawyer, Michael Gallardo of Ginarte, Gallardo, Gonzalez & Winograd in Newark.

The building where Gelmi worked was owned by Hartz Mountain, and Best Landscaping was under contract to keep the pavement clear of ice and snow, said Gallardo. There was a dispute between the defendants as to whether their contract required Best Landscaping to specifically monitor the area for ice, according to Gallardo.

Amid the defendants' dispute on liability, the plaintiff maintained that, since neither defendant took responsibility for ice monitoring, it was obvious that neither one had checked for ice, resulting in ice formation that caused Gelmi's fall, Gallardo said.

He said the defendants also retained weather and liability experts who opined that the plaintiff's fall was caused by freezing rain that began only an hour before the accident, and therefore they had no notice of the alleged hazard.

After one week of trial before Union County Superior Court Judge James Hely, the parties agreed to settle the case for $1.5 million, with Hartz paying $1 million and Best Landscaping paying $500,000, according to Gallardo, who was assisted at trial by Robert Baumgarten.

The lawyer for Hartz Mountain, Patrick Robinson of Robinson Burns in Bridgewater, and the lawyer for Best Landscaping, Lance Kalik of Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti in Morristown, didn't return calls about the case.

— Charles Toutant

$500K Auto Verdict in Hunterdon

Trowbridge v. Rodriguez: A Hunterdon County jury returned a $500,000 verdict on April 12 after a five-day trial before Superior Court Judge Michael F. O'Neill in the case of a woman injured in a 2013 car accident.

Plaintiff Nicole Trowbridge was 23 at the time of the accident—a rear-end collision on Route 513 in Frenchtown on May 10, 2013. Trowbridge, now 29, suffered permanent injuries to her right shoulder, and a cervical spinal disc herniation, according to her lawyers, Andrew Fraser of Laddey Clark & Ryan in Sparta and Anthony Murgatroyd of the Murgatroyd Law Group in Flemington.

Fraser said the defendant, Priscilla Rodriguez, now 33, of Pittstown, drove her 2010 black Nissan SUV into the back of Trowbridge's four-door, silver Nissan vehicle, causing it to be totaled and permanently injuring Trowbridge. The Rodriguez vehicle was owned by defendant Construction Maintenance Plus, and she was employed by the company at the time of the crash.

Medical experts Dr. Nirav Shah, a neurosurgeon at Princeton Brain and Spine Care, and Dr. Cary Skolnick, an orthopedist at Medico Legal Evaluations in Morganville, testified on behalf of Trowbridge. The jury deliberated for 1 hour and 45 minutes before returning with the verdict, the lawyers said.

Trowbridge underwent cervical disc replacement surgery and two right shoulder surgeries. Her doctors, Shah and Skolnick, said in the future she will need a cervical fusion.

Jon Robinson and Rob Paglione of Terkowitz & Hermesmann in Somerset represented the defendants and confirmed the verdict.

Robinson noted that he filed an Aug. 15, 2018, offer of judgement for $500,000, the same amount awarded by the jury.

The defense stipulated liability, he noted.

Robinson said Hanover Insurance Co. is paying the $500,000 award.

Dr. Joseph Dryer, an orthopedic surgeon in Millburn, was Rodriguez's medical expert. Dryer said Trowbridge's shoulder injuries related to the accident, but that she made a fairly good recovery but still had limited motion in the right shoulder, according to Robinson.

— Suzette Parmley