Court Orders $3,900,00 Increase in Brain and Back Injury Case

On October 30, 2003, Jorge Angamarca was working as a carpenter on the roof of a residential townhouse in Brooklyn when he fell two stories through an improperly covered skylight hole. He was unconscious at the scene, remained in a coma for three months and was confined to the hospital for 45 days. Then he remained at a rehabilitation facility for 13 months before he started living in a group home for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients.

Mr. Angamarca was granted summary judgment under New York's Labor Law Section 240(1) for liability against the owner of the building and it contractors because he had not been provided with any safety equipment, as required by the statute.

The case went to a damages only trial because the parties involved could not agree on an appropriate settlement.  On April 8, 2009, the Kings County jury awarded plaintiff $20,000,000 broken down as follows:

• Past pain and suffering - $100,000 (6 years)
• Future pain and suffering - $1,000,000 (40 years)
• Past loss of earnings - $74,013 (6 years)
• Future loss of earnings - $573,131 (23 years)
• Past medical expenses - $1,531,172 (6 years)
• Future medical expenses - $16,721,684 (40 years)

The Plaintiff's Attorney alleged that the pain and siffering awards were unreasonably low and the Defendant's representative argued that the medical expense award was too high.
As a result, the Appellate Court ordered a $3,900,000 increase to the pain and suffering award.

• $100,000 to $1,500,000 for past pain and suffering
• $1,000,000 to $3,500,000 for future pain and suffering 

Injury details are as follows:

• Skull fractures including a temporal craniectomy, resection of lobes and placement of a cranioplasty
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leaving plaintiff with cognitive deficits affecting his speech, memory and emotions as well as left visual field neglect and spasticity of his left-sided extremities (arm and leg).
• Fractures of his spine at T7-8 requiring T6-9 anterior spinal fusion with structural humeral allograft, autograft and screw plate construct
• Displaced Colles fracture, right wrist (with malunion)
• Midshaft tibia and fibula fractures, right leg

 


POSTED BY: RENE G. GARCIA
The Garcia Law Firm, P.C. 
212-725-1313 or 1-866- SCAFFOLD