New Jersey Transit bus.

A $1.8 million verdict against New Jersey Transit might get trimmed in light of an Appellate Division ruling that liability for a bus passenger's injuries should have been apportioned between the transit agency and a teen who threw a bottle at the plaintiff.

Passenger Anasia Maison was awarded $1.8 million for injuries suffered in an altercation with a group of unruly passengers while her bus passed through Newark. But the appeals court said Wednesday that the trial judge erred by denying a defense request to include the bottle-throwing passenger on the verdict sheet.

Maison's lawyer argued that a jury cannot allocate fault to the unidentified bottle thrower because he was not added as a party to the suit, but the Comparative Negligence Act says the jury should make a good-faith allocation of negligence among joint tortfeasors based on the evidence, not on collectability, the appeals court said.

The panel left the $1.8 million award intact but ordered the case remanded for a new jury to allocate liability between New Jersey Transit and the bottle thrower.

New Jersey Transit also claimed on appeal that the trial court erred by allowing the plaintiff to proceed without presenting expert testimony on the limits of the transit agency's duty of care.

But Judges Clarkson Fisher Jr., Richard Hoffman and Richard Geiger ruled that the matter was “not so esoteric that jurors of common judgment and experience could not form a valid judgment as to whether defendants' conduct failed to satisfy the degree of care owed to plaintiff.”

New Jersey Transit also claimed on appeal that the trial court erred by holding it to the heightened standard of negligence for common carriers. Hoffman, writing for the panel, affirmed the finding that New Jersey Transit is a common carrier, citing other public transit agencies that have termed themselves common carriers.

The appeals court said there was no reason to disturb the $1.8 million verdict because the defendants did not contest it and it was not tainted by the error in the liability portion of the case. The remand jury should not be informed of the amount of the award, the panel said.

Maison was riding on a New Jersey Transit bus when a group of male teenagers began to direct profane comments to her and to pelt her with objects. When one of the teens brandished a knife, Maison got up and changed seats. Bus driver Kelvin Coats, who witnessed the episode, said he did not intervene or call police because Maison did not ask for help and appeared to be handling herself well. But when the teens exited the bus at their stop, one of them threw a liquor bottle at Maison, striking her forehead. She bled profusely and required 22 stitches to close up her wounds.

The jury awarded $1.8 million to Maison after finding transit authority and the bus driver “fail[ed] to exercise a high degree of care in protecting plaintiff,” and that “this failure proximately cause[d] plaintiff's injuries.”

Maison's lawyer, K. Raja Bhattacharya of Bendit Weinstock in West Orange, said of the ruling, “We are pleased that the Appellate Division determined that New Jersey Transit is a common carrier and that the Appellate Division sustained the verdict amount of $1.8 million. Today's ruling benefits all the citizens of New Jersey who ride New Jersey Transit buses and trains. We are considering our options with respect to the nature of the limited remand.”

Deputy Attorney General Robert McGuire represented New Jersey Transit and Coats. A spokesman for the attorney general's office declined to comment.