Soft Tissue Injury, consisting of Bulging & Herniated Discs with Lost Earnings, Results in 3 Million Dollar Jury Award for past and Future Pain and Suffering, Loss of Consortium and Past and Future Lost Earnings.
In this soft tissue automobile accident case, in which the plaintiff sustained bulging and herniated discs to his neck and back, with cervical radiculopathy confirmed by EMG’s, for which cervical surgery was indicated but never done, as testified to by his treating neurologist, the jury award to the plaintiff was $3,000,000.00. Because, at the time of his injury, the plaintiff was a union foreman in a construction company, whose earnings and job benefits were substantial, his inability to return to the same position he enjoyed before he was hurt, impacted heavily on his ability to work, to earn money, and to remain in the work force for as long as he would have been able to, had he not been injured. This resulted in a large past and future loss of earnings, as well as a diminished work life expectancy.
Because the plaintiff’s injuries also impacted on his ability to be both a husband and a father, and because they diminished the contributions that he could make in both capacities, his wife also had a claim for loss of consortium, or “spousal services.”
The defendant and his experts disputed that the plaintiff suffered from any disc pathology, and that if he did, it was merely degenerative (age related), that it pre-dated the accident, and that his injuries had nothing to do with the fact that the defendant rear ended the plaintiff’s car at great speed. The defendant further argued, and their experts testified at trial, that because it was their opinion that he was not injured, there was no reason why he could not continue to perform hard, manual labor, as he had prior to his injury.
The jury disagreed with the defendant. In one of the highest verdicts at that time for a similar injury, in this venue in a non surgical case for soft tissue injuries, the jury unanimously awarded the plaintiff three million dollars. The breakdown for this award was: $250,000 past pain and suffering; $750,000 for future pain and suffering; $200,000 for past lost earnings; $1.65 for future lost earnings, $150,000 for lost services to his wife.
