$510,000.00 Total Recovery - Products Liability

Product liability - pedestal stool collapses - Absence of locking pin - Plaintiff contends vision center/premises owner had notice of defect - Back injury superimposed on pre-existing degenerative disc disease - Surgery - 70% liability against defendant vision center and 30% liability against manufacturer.

Nassau County, New York

This action involved a plaintiff customer of the defendant vision center.  As the plaintiff sat on the pedestal stool, it collapsed, resulting in his fall to the floor.  The plaintiff contended that the stool was defectively designed and that there was an absence of a locking pin.  The case against the defendant manufacturer settled prior to trial for $235,000.00.  The liability case proceeded against the premises owner.

The plaintiff maintained that the defendant vision center conducted quarterly inspections of the chair and had notice of the defect.  The defendant premises owner denied notice of the defect and contended that the cause of the incident was the defect in the chair.

The plaintiff had undergone a lumbar laminectomy and the installation of hardware years before the subject incident occurred.  The plaintiff maintained that the trauma resulted in the rod becoming dislodged and the need for additional lumbar surgery.  The plaintiff contended that the pain and limitations have been permanently heightened.

The plaintiff made no claim for future lost wages.

The liability jury found the vision center 70% liable and the manufacturer 30% liable.  The case against the premises liability defendant settled after the liability verdict for $275,000.00, bringing the total recovery to $510,000.00.

REFERENCE

Plaintiff's engineer expert: Charles Johnson, Ph.D. from Hackettstown, NJ.  Plaintiff's otolaryngology expert: Scott Kay, M.D. from Plainsboro, NJ.

L.N. v. Davis Vision, Inc., et al. Index no.: 8311/03, September 2009.

Attorney for plaintiff, Brian R. Gunn of Cerussi & Gunn, P.C. in Garden City, NY