A couple was reduced to tears when a jury awarded them with over $1.8 million in compensations for injuries that the husband received in a traffic crash, as reported by the Daily Local News from Chester County, Philadelphia.
The couple, of West Bradford, filed the lawsuit after a traffic collision left the husband so injured that he could no longer work at his job as an electrician and provide as the head of household.
The couple’s attorney, Gerald F. McCormick of West Chester, said that the verdict “overwhelmed” the couple.
Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. presided over the three-day civil trial in Common Pleas Court.
Large monetary awards have been rare in Chester County – specifically for those that involve traffic accidents.
McCormick said of the jury’s decision, “I was fairly convinced that we were going to get some kind of an award. But I was fairly surprised at the size. Not so much because of the facts, but more because of the conservative tradition of county juries.”
The victim, T.E., received $1,550,000 in compensation for damages due to the negligence of a driver that struck the vehicle he was a passenger in. J.E., the victim’s wife, was awarded $325,000 for loss of consortium.
The award, per McCormick, would not come from the defendant, D.F.B., but rather from his insurance carrier.
At the time of the accident, April 2006, Erie Insurance covered D.F.B. for $2 million. D.F.B. had accepted responsibility for being at fault in the collision.
The only remaining issue was how much loss of income, currently and in the future, T.E. would claim.
Court documents show that T.E. was a passenger in a Parker Electric vehicle – owned by Parker and operated by another employee – when the accident occurred.
T.E. had recently returned to his job as he had been recuperating from a right elbow injury.
On April 14, 2006 a 1996 GMC Sierra, operated by D.F.B., drove through a red light at the Radner Road intersection. The GMC then collided with the van T.E. was traveling in going westbound on Upper Gulph Road in Tredyffrin.
T.E.’s right elbow was re-injured, as well as his shoulder, but this time there was extensive damage to the ligaments.
The lawsuit, filed in 2008, claimed that though the injuries sustained by T.E. were painful, he chose to return to work. Within a few months the pain continued unabated and he was unable to continue working.
In September of 2007 T.E. had a physical examination that proved he couldn’t lift an object over five pounds with his right arm
The couple has two children together, and one suffers with cerebral palsy. J.E. has had to work in a nearby hospital as a nurse while T.E. has become a stay-at-home parent.
If you have been injured in a car accident, contact a personal injury lawyer to file a lawsuit so that you can recoup any loss of income, as well as any other damages.