A Philadelphia jury awarded a woman more than $12 million after her car was hit from behind by a stolen vehicle, pushing her into oncoming traffic where she was then hit by a work van coming the opposite direction.

Just how much of that $12.1 million Sheri Mee will see is unclear considering that, of the three defendants, one settled for $100,000, another settled for an undisclosed amount and the driver of the stolen vehicle most likely won’t be able to pay the judgment, according to an attorney in the case.

In Mee v. Fabrizio , Mee sued the driver of the stolen vehicle, Michael Fabrizio Jr.; the company that owned the work van, Johnson Controls Inc.; and the owner of the stolen vehicle, Thomas Fitzpatrick, because he left his car unlocked and running with the keys in the ignition, according to court documents and Mee’s attorney, Thomas F. Sacchetta of Sacchetta & Baldino in Media, Pa.

Mee settled prior to trial with car owner Fitzpatrick for his motor vehicle insurance policy limits of $100,000 through Hartford Financial Services Group, according to a joint tortfeasor release.

Johnson Controls Inc., which was sued along with its driver Richard Evans and JCI Building Efficiency, settled during the trial, according to the trial worksheet. Sacchetta said he couldn’t disclose the amount of the settlement, but said it was enough to make his client happy despite the fact that it took out the possibility of the company being held jointly and severally liable for a jury verdict against Fabrizio, who Sacchetta said was unlikely to be able to pay out the damages.

Judge Esther R. Sylvester entered a directed verdict against Fabrizio on the issues of negligence and factual cause of injury. On Feb. 24, the jury came back with a verdict on damages against Fabrizio in the amount of $12,103,322.

The biggest portion of that verdict, or $3.49 million, was for future medical expenses. The jury also awarded $1.75 million each for future pain and suffering, embarrassment and humiliation, enjoyment of life and disfigurement. It awarded Mee $1 million in punitive damages. The jurors awarded Mee $400,310 for future lost earnings and $48,000 for past lost earnings. They awarded her more than $66,000 in medical expenses, according to the verdict sheet.

The accident occurred Sept. 12, 2008 in Delaware County, Pa. Mee was driving her Honda Civic southbound on Bishop Avenue on her way to work. Fabrizio had stolen Fitzpatrick’s Ford Taurus from his house in Drexel Hill and was also driving it southbound on Bishop Avenue, according to a pretrial memorandum in the case.

Evans was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Express van in the northbound lane while working for Johnson Controls. Mee had stopped to make a left turn when she was struck from behind by Fabrizio, who fled the scene with a passenger in the Taurus, according to court documents.

Mee was pushed across the median into the northbound lane when she was struck broadside on the passenger side of her vehicle by the van driven by Evans. Mee was extracted from the vehicle and taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s trauma unit. She was later transferred to a rehabilitation center where she remained until Oct. 8, 2008, according to court papers.

An “event data recorder” recovered from the Johnson Controls van showed Evans was driving 48 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour speed zone at the time of the accident. Evans also testified he was on his cell phone at the time of the accident, according to court documents.

Mee, now 38, suffered a broken clavicle, sternum and femur along with three broken vertebrae. She has a rod in her femur and her legs are now different lengths, causing her to limp and need a cane. Mee also suffered brain injuries and has not been able to return to work or independently care for her autistic son or her war veteran father who is blind from a landmine accident, Sacchetta said. She has two children. Aside from physical issues, Mee also has memory and cognition problems, according to her pretrial memorandum.

The demand going into trial was $10 million, according to the memorandum. Johnson Controls said in its pretrial memorandum that the demand against it was $5 million and no offer had been made at that time.The company said in the memorandum that Mee’s car was pushed in front of Evans who “unavoidably struck” it.

“There was nothing Evans could have done about it,” Johnson Controls said in its memorandum filed by attorney Aaron Byrd-Leitner of Margolis Edelstein.

“Any jury — in Philadelphia or otherwise — will understand the dynamics of this accident and will know who is obviously at fault,” Johnson Controls said in the memorandum. “Any games that plaintiff’s attorney intends to play with trying to attach ‘1 percent’ of liability on the part of defendants JCI and Evans is farfetched, obfuscates the truth and borders on an abuse of process when considering that the clear and obvious documented cause of this accident was the negligent and criminal conduct of defendants Fabrizio and [passenger Steven] McCall.”

McCall was dismissed from the case before trial. Fabrizio was not at the trial and did not file any responses, Sacchetta said.

Sacchetta said joint and several liability was key to getting a strong resolution for his client in this case.

“We had no doubt that we thought we could get 1 percent,” he said. “That’s why the joint and several, I think, is so critical here.”

Two of the three defendants were trying to avoid any responsibility, Sacchetta said, and his client just wanted them to pay their fair share.

“That was a line they were trying to tote that there was no way their client had any responsibility, but I think the joint and several in this particular case was appropriate and that’s why the case ended up in a good resolution for everybody,” Sacchetta said.

Sacchetta tried the case along with Bruce H. MacKnight Jr., an attorney with Sacchetta’s firm. Sacchetta said Johnson Controls was at trial until the two sides reached a settlement, but said the jury didn’t know a settlement was reached.

The case started out with 12 jurors, but after one didn’t return, the parties agreed to proceed with 11, he said.

In talking with the jurors after the trial, Sacchetta said it was clear they were concerned with the single mother’s ability to care for her son and father. They deliberated for five hours over the course of two days, he said.

Michael Martin Cohen of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., testified for Mee as a neurological expert. David L. Hopkins of King of Prussia, Pa., offered expert testimony on economics and Lorraine E. Buchanan of Independent Allied Health Consultants in Blue Bell, Pa., testified to Mee’s life care plan. Neuropsychologist David J. Massari of Clinical Neuropsychology Association in Philadelphia and physical medicine doctor William C. Murphy of Smart Rehabilitation in Media, also testified on Mee’s behalf.

Johnson Controls’ attorney Byrd-Leitner declined to comment.

Reprinted with permission from the “ISSUE DATE” edition of the “PUBLICATION.” © “2011”
ALM Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.

A Delaware County jury has awarded more than $5.4 million to a man who suffered brain damage after falling off his bicycle because of an alleged road defect.

According to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Thomas F. Sacchetta of Sacchetta and Baldino, after four days of trial and two hours of deliberations, the jury in Carletti v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania awarded $5.46 million to David Carletti and his wife, Brenda Carletti, over claims that the patch of road where he fell was dangerous. The award included nearly $2.5 million in medical expenses and lost wages, as well as $2 million in pain and suffering to David Carletti and $1 million for Brenda Carletti’s loss of consortium claim.

The state government was the only defendant at trial. Although state law caps recovery for civil damages against state agencies at $250,000, Sacchetta said the total recovery from Pennsylvania will be $500,000 since both of the Carlettis will recover the maximum $250,000 for their claims.

“Delaware County is considered a very conservative county, but I still find, especially since I’m a local Delaware County attorney, that with the right case Delaware County juries will still give significant verdicts,” Sacchetta said.

According to David Carletti’s pretrial motion, the fall occurred in May 2012, when he was riding his bike on West Sproul Road in Springfield Township. The memo said Carletti hit a patch in the road, which he argued constituted a danger defect that ejected him from his bike. He landed on his head, the memo said.

Carletti, who was in his late 50s at the time of the accident, sued both Pennsylvania and the manufacturer of the bike helmet he was wearing, but, according to Sacchetta, that defendant settled confidentially. The claims against the state included negligent design and failure to maintain the road.

According to the pretrial memo, the fall caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage that damaged his brain and led to post-traumatic seizure disorder. He also suffered broken ribs, and a broken vertebra. Emergency personnel were immediately called to the scene, and he was taken to Crozer Regional Trauma Center, where he stayed for three weeks.

Carletti received outpatient therapy, but has since been hospitalized several times with seizure-related injuries, the memo said.

Pennsylvania disputed that any defect in the road caused Carletti’s crash. In its pretrial memo, which was filed by Senior Deputy Attorney General Jane H. Fisher, it said that two independent witnesses traveling in the opposite direction at the time of Carletti’s fall did not know what defect Carletti would have come into contact with.

According to Sacchetta, his accident reconstruction expert, Shawn Gyorke, was integral in overcoming that defense.

“[Carletti] had brain damage. He doesn’t remember anything, but the accident reconstruction expert was very compelling,” Sacchetta said, noting that one of the jurors told him Gyorke was his most compelling witness in the case. “We were obviously thankful the jurors saw the case the way we did.”

The judge who presided over the trial was Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles Burr.

The press office for the state attorney general did not return a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

A Girl Scout who allegedly sustained a traumatic brain injury after falling off a rock formation during an outing has settled for nearly $3 million with the Susquehanna County camp where the fall occurred.
According to attorney Thomas F. Sacchetta, the parents of Ashley Bagosy settled their claims with Camp Archbald for $2.8 million. The settlement was made following jury selection Jan. 9. The case, Bagosy v. Camp Archbald, had been filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

“It was an unfortunate situation for Ashley, who was a minor, and we’re pleased we were able to have her get a substantial amount to sustain her for the future,” Sacchetta said.

According to a pretrial memo filed by Stephen and Marsha Bagosy, who are Ashley Bagosy’s parents, on April 21, 2012, their daughter was a member of a Girl Scouts troop on a trip to Camp Archbald in Kingsley, Pa. She was on the trip with several other girls, and several adults were tasked with supervising the children, the pretrial memo said.

According to the memo, Ashley Bagosy, who was 11 years old at the time, and several other Girl Scouts went outside their camp unsupervised. During the unsupervised outing, Bagosy allegedly fell off a rock formation and then rolled about 20 feet, according to the plaintiffs’ memo. The plaintiffs further contended that during the fall, Bagosy struck her head, back, neck and extremities.

According to the memo, the girls Bagosy was with brought her back to the cabin, where Bagosy remained for some time. After adults who were supervising the children realized that Bagosy was “disheveled, confused and not responding properly,” she was driven by one of the adults to a hospital, where she was examined and released.

According to the plaintiffs’ pretrial memo, Bagosy sustained a traumatic brain injury in the fall, which led to memory, cognition, speech and behavioral problems.

The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that the camp was negligent for failing to control the campers, and that it negligently hired, managed and controlled its employees. The plaintiffs additionally alleged in the complaint that the camp failed to have adequate safety protocols in place.

The plaintiffs noted that Bagosy was treated at numerous medical facilities, including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and Johns Hopkins Medical Center, and contended that Bagosy had been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

Although four organizations related to the Girl Scouts were initially sued, the entities were discontinued from the case in May pursuant to a stipulation that they had no involvement with either the camp or the incident.

The camp, in its pretrial memo, argued that the girls had been assisting with the cleanup of the camp, and that Bagosy had been jumping from one large rock to another when she fell. The camp further argued that the area was not dangerous.

“Camp Archbald is located in the Endless Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania and is a natural area that contains rocks, trees and changes in elevation,” the camp’s memo said. “There was nothing dangerous or hazardous about the location where the incident occurred.”

The damages that Bagosy sustained, the plaintiffs argued in their memo, were both economic and non-economic, and included medical expenses. The plaintiffs additionally argued that Bagosy’s future earning capacity would be limited due to the fall, and that her injuries may be permanent.

Bagosy, the plaintiffs also contended in their memo, was “high-achieving” before the accident. The plaintiffs also noted that she swam competitively, and had competed in the Junior Olympics.

Max Mitchell can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or mmitchell@alm.com. Follow him on Twitter@MMitchellTLI

Reprinted with permission from the “ISSUE DATE” edition of the “PUBLICATION.” © “2016”
ALM Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.