HOME PAGE
|
Friday, March 12, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas jury awards paraplegic $25 million
A wheelchair-bound man who fell off a bus lift because of operator error wins what could be a record judgment.
By Peter O'Connell
Review-Journal
A District Court jury awarded a Las Vegas man more than $25 million Thursday for injuries suffered when a prematurely activated bus lift tumbled him from his wheelchair.
Attorney Randall Mainor, who represents plaintiff Lee O'Brien, said the verdict affirms that people have a duty to assume responsibility when their actions harm those who can't care for themselves. He said accumulated interest will push the damages into the $30 million range.
"I am almost positive there has never been a personal injury case that exceeds that amount in the history of the state," said Mainor, who has practiced law in Las Vegas since 1971.
He expects the defendant, ATC-VanCom Inc., a company that operates the Citizens Area Transit bus system, to appeal the case to the Nevada Supreme Court. The company would have to post a bond equal to the damages, and O'Brien would not collect the money until that appeal is resolved.
An attorney for the company did not return a phone call for comment Thursday night.
A 1982 motorcycle accident left O'Brien, who moved to Las Vegas in 1989, an "incomplete paraplegic," his attorney said. He had some sensation below his waist and sexual functions and could control his bladder and bowel movements.
For a period after that accident, O'Brien worked for a nonprofit organization teaching handicapped people how to increase their independence by using mass transportation.
On Aug. 30, 1993, he was positioning his wheelchair on the lift of a bus parked at the intersection of Vegas Drive and Decatur Boulevard when the driver activated the lift too early, sending the wheelchair to the pavement and causing O'Brien to land on the metal lift, Mainor said.
"You can't be hurt. You're a paraplegic," Mainor said the driver told O'Brien.
Mainor said he seized on the statement during the trial.
"Of course he can be hurt. That was the main theme of my case," he said.
In the wake of the accident, O'Brien became a "complete paraplegic," Mainor said.
He said his client lost all sensation below his waist, lost all sexual function, lost all control of his bladder and bowels, is no longer employable, and avoids constant pain only through the regular use of methadone.
A severe sore developed on his buttocks, requiring him to remain face-down on a gurney for eight months. When he goes to bed, he sets the alarm to sound every two to three hours so he can catheterize himself and shift his body to avoid the sores to which he is susceptible.
"That is his destiny for the rest of his natural life," Mainor said.
During the trial before Chief District Judge Lee Gates, ATC-VanCom acknowledged that negligence occurred, Mainor said.
But the company argued that the injuries O'Brien suffered in the 1982 accident were progressive, Mainor said. The company contended that O'Brien's current condition is not directly attributable to the 1993 accident.
Mainor asked jurors to award his client damages in excess of $14 million. He said the company did not recommend a specific amount.
A unanimous jury awarded O'Brien $20 million for future pain and suffering; $2.2 million for past pain and suffering; $2 million for future medical expenses, and lesser sums for past loss of earnings and past medical bills.
E-mail this story to a friend:
Give us your FEEDBACK on this or any story.
1999 BEST OF LAS VEGAS
Fill out our Online Readers' Poll
|
Printable version of this story
|
