$935,000 Recovery during trial for man with ankle injury

January, 2004

On the second day of trial Feldman Shepherd attorneys Mark W. Tanner and Daniel J. Mann reached a $935,000 settlement on behalf of a man who sustained a serious ankle fracture while working at the Philadelphia Airport. The plaintiff was injured while driving a “tug,” which transports luggage from the planes to the baggage area at the airport. The plaintiff rounded a blind curve and encountered a large US Airways baggage container that had been dropped in the road. The plaintiff tried to avoid a collision with the container, and in so doing fell out of the tug, which then ran over his ankle.

During the trial, plaintiff called a US Airways representative as if on cross examination, and questioned him extensively about the obligations of US Airways employees, essentially proving to the jury that these employees were negligent and that they were responsible for dropping the baggage container in the roadway. The plaintiffs also presented evidence from numerous independent eyewitnesses subpoenaed for trial, who further contradicted the defendant’s position in the matter, as the defendant was attempting to prove that the accident did not happen as described by the plaintiff. In the face of this testimony, the defendant agreed to settle the case. There was another defendant who contributed to the settlement but, pursuant to the negotiations, that defendant and their contribution remains confidential.

See article published in Pennsylvania Jury Verdicts and Settlements Review and Analysis about this case.