Soft Tissue Injury, with Bulging & Herniated Discs, Results in $350,000 Verdict: One of the Highest Reported Verdicts In Westchester County For This Type Of Injury.
In this “soft tissue” automobile accident case, in which the plaintiff, a nurse, was side-swiped by the defendant in a parking lot, she sustained “soft tissue injuries”, consisting of bulging and herniated discs in her neck and back, which she contended prevented her from performing her duties as a nurse and from caring for her children.
The medical testimony at trial showed that she sustained a concussion, a herniation at L4-5 and at L5-S1, along with traumatically induced bulging discs, also referred to as “partial disc tears”, at C3-C4, C4-C5, L1-L2, L2-L3 and L3-L4. Both she and her treating physician also testified that she suffered from radiculopathy, that is, nerve damage that causes pain not only in the local area where the disc is situated, but also in places further away, such as in the arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers and toes.
To treat these injuries and to address her constant pain, O’Neill testified that she received extensive treatment, including acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, physical therapy, and the administration of 13 pain killing trigger point injections. O’Neill’s treating physician testified that her condition is permanent, that it will get worse as she gets older and that she will require a lifetime course of trigger pont injections. At the time of trial, O’Neill was 28 years old.
The defendant contended that O’Neill did not sustain a “serious injury” under the law; that all of her injuries were short lived and resolved within weeks after the accident, and that any continuing complaints of pain were solely due to her pregnancy and nothing else. The jury agreed with O’Neill, and it awarded her $350,000 for her pain and suffering; among the highest reported verdicts for this type of injury in Westchester County.
We have chosen to include this verdict not only because of the extraordinary result, but also because we believe it bears eloquent witness to the lengths that Gash & Associates, P.C., will do to accomplish justice for our clients. In this case, the defendant had an insurance policy providing only the minimal limits of insurance coverage under the law of New York: a mere $25,000.00. We demanded the full policy limits so that we could pursue our client’s claim against her own insurance carrier for “under insured” insurance benefits under the law, but the defendant refused to tender the policy contrary to the advice of the Court. Despite the fact that the costs of trying this case approached the policy limits, we would not yield, as other law firms might, to the best business decision, and settle the case for less, and just “move on”. We felt that our client deserved more, and we were determined to get it for her.
The matter is now under appeal, and we will be pursuing a “bad faith” claim against the defendant’s insurance carrier for its refusal to tender the policy limits, when it could have. In this bad faith claim, we will contend that the insurance carrier, as a result of placing its interests above those of its insured, to whom it owes a “fiduciary duty” it is responsible for the entire verdict.
