Plaintiff Awarded $2,000,000 in Queens Suit For Back Injuries Against The City of New York

On November 8, 2006, the Plaintiff, a 28 year-old woman, was a front seat passenger in a car being driven by her boyfriend at the time. They were proceeding south on 146th Street and attempting to make a left hand turn onto Rockaway Blvd. As they were turning, the front passenger’s side of the vehicle was struck by a sanitation truck, which was being driven by Michael Rella. Plaintiff would have claimed that the accident was entirely the fault of the sanitation vehicle and would have alleged that Michael Rella went through a red traffic light. Defendants would have argued that the accident was the boyfriend’s fault and that he was the one who went through a red light.

The Plaintiff refused medical attention at the scene. Later that same day she presented to a local clinic where she complained of back and neck pain. She treated there regularly and was eventually referred to a spine surgeon who eventually performed a lumbar laminectomy and diskectomy at L5-S1. He also performed a second surgery which fused the L5-S1 levels and required the insertion of hardware. Plaintiff was unemployed at the time of her accident and would have made no lost earnings claim. Defendants’ Medical experts would have opined that the plaintiff was totally healed from her injuries and that she could resume all activities with no limitations. They would have also argued that any conditions in the plaintiff’s spine were pre-existing and not caused by the subject accident. Thus the surgeries were not necessitated by the accident.

The case was handled by Stephen Murphy and Daniel O’Toole of Block O’Toole & Murphy.