$5.1 Million
On May 24, 2011, April Taylor (pseudonym) stopped at the defendant’s supermarket to purchase some oats to make cookies. As she entered the store and with her first step across the threshold of the automatic door, she slipped with both feet going out from under her. She crashed to the floor, striking her left arm and entire left side including her head. The fall was captured on the store’s entry surveillance tape, although one cannot discern the head strike because it was obscured by the door frame. April fell with her first step into the store because the floor was wet and store personnel failed to place a rubber safety in that precise location. At the scene of the fall, April’s primary complaint was regarding her left arm and denied that she struck her head to the paramedics. However, at the hospital, she gave a history of a head injury as well as an injury to her arm and neck. April was diagnosed with a minor concussion, a contusion of the left elbow, and a slight whiplash injury to her neck. The next day April saw an orthopedist for her arm and her PCP. The following day she consulted with a neurologist. Everyone diagnosed April with some form of head injury (Several terms are used interchangeably for a mild traumatic brain injury or mTBI – concussion, mild concussion, minor concussion, minor head injury, acquired head injury.) Notwithstanding her injuries, April continued to do her sales job for a large corporation. She called on customers and worked out of her home office. She adjusted the way she performed her job and managed to succeed for over three years before her employer realized that April’s injuries prevented her from performing the job as it was described. April’s brain injury impacted several cognitive functions, the most obvious of which was her speech, which was apparent within a matter of a few days. She developed word-finding difficulties, as well as difficulty maintaining her train of thought. Also, her processing speed was slowed significantly. April found that performing her job as well as normal activities of daily living took much longer than before the accident. Compounding her difficulties was that she experienced overwhelming fatigue, a common symptom of traumatic brain injury. In addition to her brain injury, April’s left arm injury did not heal. Instead, she developed chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS.) CRPS is an autonomic condition that can develop after an injury or surgery. It usually involves dysregulation of pain, temperature, and color in an extremity. April’s CRPS was helped only by periodic courses of physical therapy. Sadly, the insurance company for the supermarket attempted to exploit a fairly predictable series of myths about TBI, including the fact that April did not lose consciousness, was considered to be alert and oriented when brought to the hospital, and had a normal clinical MRI. None of these factors can rule out a brain injury. It was also true that April held onto her job for over three years before her superiors pressured her to do more than she was physically and mentally capable of doing. When her employer declined to provide her with any job accommodations, April applied for and was granted short term and then long term disability. Still, insurance companies will be insurance companies. The jury trial commenced in January in Stamford Superior Court. When the trial began, the insurance company’s offer for settlement was $1 million. After three weeks of trial and when the evidence was completed on a Friday afternoon close to 5:00 P.M., the defense was given one last chance to settle the case before it went to the jury. Having rejected offers of $1 million, $3 million, and $4 million – with the encouragement and guidance of her lawyers, Stewart Casper, the plaintiff indicated that $5.1 million would resolve the case if the insurance company agreed to that sum that very evening. And that’s how the case resolved.
