Laura Diaz, 41, who was injured in the Staten Island ferry crash, has reached a $1.125 million settlement. This is the largest settlement in the city to date. Ms. Diaz suffered a broken leg and pelvis when Andrew J. Barberi crashed into a pier near the St. George terminal in Staten Island on October 15, 2003. She had to have screws put into her leg, said her lawyer Daniel O’Toole. Diaz was hospitalized for two weeks.
Diaz was on her way home from her job as a federal bankruptcy court clerk on the afternoon of the disaster. She was one of 71 people injured in the crash, which killed 11 people.
The settlement came after negotiations with the city corporation counsel. It was the 33rd settlement reached in the city involving the ferry crash. Her settlement is worth more than the other 32 cases combined which totaled about $600,000.
