After about three hours of deliberation Feb. 19, a jury found Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center liable for $6.6 million after a failure to clear parking lot pathways resulted in a plaintiff's slip and fall accident.

Catherine Bannon, 38, and her husband, Charles, were passing through the drive-thru at a Clifton Heights, Pa., fast food restaurant March 18, 2007, when their car became stuck in ice.

According to the plaintiff's settlement memorandum, "Catherine Bannon exited the car to walk around to the driver's side so she could take the wheel while her husband pushed the car."
In the process, Catherine Bannon slipped and fell, "sustaining serious injury."

KFC U.S. Properties Inc. and improperly named defendants YUM! Brands Inc., Taco Bell and KFC admitted liability in this action, according to the defendant's settlement memorandum.

However the memorandum states in their defense, Dan's Car Care Center, owned by defendant Dan Robinson, was responsible for plowing the parking lot of the KFC Restaurant, including the drive-thru lane.
Furthermore, the defendants argued Catherine Bannon had pre-existing back injuries, according to their memo. The defense's settlement memo notes Catherine Bannon waited six months before beginning treatment for her injuries after being seen in the ER on the day of the slip and fall.

Prior to jury selection, a confidential settlement was reached between the plaintiff and defendant KFC U.S. Properties said plaintiffs' attorney Gerald Baldino. This settlement, however, did not include defendants Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center.

"Despite being served with the complaint, a ten-day notice, default judgment and a letter from the Court one week prior to trial instructing them to appear for jury selection, no representative appeared at trial," Baldino said in a statement.

Among the injuries Catherine Bannon sustained as a result of the incident, "the primary injury claimed at the time of trial was to plaintiff's neck," Baldino said. "She sustained two protruding discs with torn annulus at two levels."

In their settlement memorandum, the defense argued that Catherine Bannon's pain stemmed from a prior injury.

A Sept. 6, 2007, MRI of plaintiff's lumbar spine "revealed multi-level degenerative disc disease" according to the defendants' memo in defense to plaintiffs' request for damages.

MRI results sent by John F. Hiehle to Dr. Richard Levenberg on Sept. 6, 2005, describe Catherine Bannon's clinical history of "lower back pain with numbness and tingling in the left leg." The report commented that there was minimal disc bulge at T11-12 and small disc protrusion at L4-5 and L5-S1.

The defense memo also stated that the plaintiff claimed "post concussion syndrome as a result of the KFC fall." However, "at the ER on the day of the incident," the defense noted, "Bannon denied having suffered any head trauma."

Baldino's memo argued "pre-existing injury" claims by the defendant saying, "While [Plaintiff] suffered exacerbation of pre-existing low back condition (herniated discs), that low back injury was not the focus of plaintiff's claim."

Instead the memo listed "neck injuries" as the main factor contributing to Bannon's inability to return to work full time as a medical transcriptionist for Medquist Transcription in New Jersey.

Of the $6.6 million awarded to plaintiffs, $4.4 million was awarded in favor of Catherine Bannon against defendant Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center and $2.2 million was awarded to Charles Bannon. In addition, the defendants, Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center, were required to pay delay damages totaling $19,212.33.

Defense counsel did not return calls for comment.

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.

The case of a carpenter who was injured after sustaining an electric shock on the job—and who was also alleged to have developed ALS as a result of the shock—has been settled with property owners and electricians for $2.5 million.

The plaintiff in Gallagher v. Barrett & Williams Electric, a case in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, settled with property owner defendants Keystone Devon Square Associates, B&R Devon Owner and Keystone Property Group as well as with the electrical contracting defendant Barrett & Williams Electric prior to trial.

Brenda A. Gallagher, the widow of Cornelius A. Gallagher, was represented by Thomas F. Sacchetta and Bruce H. MacKnight of Media, Pa.-based Sacchetta & Baldino. She claimed that an electric shock from an unmarked live wire connected to a ceiling on which Cornelius Gallagher was working caused him to fall to the floor below, resulting in severe shoulder injuries. The plaintiff further alleged that Gallagher developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as a result of the shock.

Sacchetta told The Legal that Gallagher died as a result of ALS before the conclusion of the case.
According to the plaintiff’s pretrial memorandum, on May 28, 2009, Gallagher was working on replacing a ceiling grid in a property owned by Keystone. While doing so, court papers said, Gallagher attempted to remove a 277-volt, metal-encased wire leading to ceiling lights. Gallagher, who allegedly did not know the wire was energized, sustained an electric shock and fell three feet, landing on the concrete floor and an empty tool bucket.

Shortly after the shoulder injury occurred, Sacchetta said, Gallagher began to have issues with his speech.

Sacchetta said, “Over the next several months he gets concerned, he seeks out his family doctor, goes to a neurologist, and found out he had ALS.”

Sacchetta added he argued that the electrical current caused Gallagher’s ALS or exacerbated a predisposition toward the disease.

“Our expert had indicated that the literature supports that [electric shock] … could be a precipitating event to some neurological disease, like ALS,” Sacchetta said.
The attorney for Keystone, Glenn M. Campbell of Blue Bell, Pa.-based William J. Ferren & Associates, declined to comment. Barrett & Williams was represented by Warren E. Voter of Sweeney & Sheehan in Philadelphia, who did not return a call seeking comment.

According to the property owners’ pretrial memorandum, “At no point in his deposition did Mr. Gallagher testify that he believed that the owners or property manager for the site had a responsibility to make the work area safe, whether with regard to electricity or otherwise.”

Reprinted with permission from the “ISSUE DATE” edition of the “PUBLICATION.” © “2014”
ALM Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.

Partner Jerry Baldino secures an $850,000.00 jury verdict on behalf of a client that suffered serious injuries as a result of a slip and fall at a Philadelphia apartment complex.

Angelit Barnes fell on the sidewalk in front of her apartment in February 2011, because it was covered with ice, the plaintiff’s pretrial memorandum said. When she fell, she suffered a severe fracture and dislocation of her right ankle that caused the bone to tear through the skin.

A Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury awarded a gross verdict of $847,362 for past medical expenses, past lost earnings, pain and suffering. The award was molded to $575,000 pursuant to a high-low agreement, against Campus Apartments Inc. and Garden Court South Associates.

Barnes slipped and fell around 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2011, the plaintiff’s memo said, while exiting her building. She had assumed the sidewalks in front of her building had been treated, it said.
According to the plaintiff’s memo, it was the common practice to treat walkways early in the morning to make them safe for pedestrians, and treatment of the sidewalks apparently occurred sometime between 7:30 and 8 a.m. that day.

According to the defendants’ pretrial memo, the defendants pretreated surfaces between noon and 5 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2011, and treated them again between 8 a.m. and noon on Feb. 1.
“Regardless, even if no prophylactic pretreatment efforts had been undertaken, as a matter of law defendants face no liability for the slip-and-fall incident, as defendants began reasonable measures to treat the property to remove ice by 8 a.m. on the morning of the incident, well within the time mandated by the applicable ordinance,” the defendants’ memo said.

As a result of her injury, Barnes had to get surgery, including the placement of pins and screws into her bone, the plaintiff’s memo said, and she wore a cast for three months. During rehabilitation of her ankle, the memo said, she began to develop left knee pain and an altered gait.

As of her last visit with her orthopedic surgeon, Barnes said she was still experiencing pain and discomfort in her ankle. According to the memo, she is unable to stand and walk more than three hours per day, and her surgeon said she will continue to need annual medical visits and anti-inflammatory medication as a result of the injury.

The defendants’ memo said Barnes has made an excellent recovery with only mild limitations affecting daily life.

The plaintiff’s settlement demand was $750,000, according to the defendants’ memo, and the defendants offered a $50,000 settlement, which Barnes rejected.

The bulk of the jury’s award, $762,200, was for pain and suffering. Awards for medical expenses and lost earnings were $47,362 and $37,800 respectively.

Defense counsel Mitchell S. Berger declined to comment.

A resident of a Philadelphia apartment complex has been awarded damages in a slip-and-fall case.

Reprinted with permission from the “ISSUE DATE” edition of the “PUBLICATION.” © “2014”
ALM Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.