ADDITIONAL VERDICTS OF INTEREST. Civil Assault. $______ VERDICT - CIVIL ASSAULT - SEXUAL HARASSMENT - PLAINTIFF WAITRESS ASSAULTED BY DEFENDANT RESTAURANT PATRON - OFFENSIVE TOUCHING - WANTON, WILLFUL AND OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT - LEFT ROTATOR CUFF INJURY - CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY - BRACHIAL PLEXOPATHY - NEUROLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT - EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AND DEPRESSION - DAMAGES ONLY.

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$975,000 RECOVERY - PREMISES LIABILITY - FALLING OBJECT - CHANDELIER AT

RENTAL HALL FALLS ON ELDERLY PLAINTIFF - DANGER NOT APPARENT AND

PLAINTIFF CONTENDS DEFENDANTS, WHO EACH MADE COMMERCIAL USE OF THE

PREMISES, HAD A DUTY TO INSPECT THE AREA ABOVE THE DROP CEILING TO

ENSURE THAT CHANDELIER WAS PROPERLY SECURED - CLOSED HEAD INJURY -

COGNITIVE DEFICITS - SEIZURE DISORDER - NEED FOR PLAINTIFF TO MOVE FROM

MARITALHOMETORESIDEWITHDAUGHTER.

Gloucester County, NJ

This was premises liability action was brought by

the female plaintiff, who was 77 years old at the

time of the settlement. The plaintiff, who ran a

part-time unpaid decorating service and who was

helping decorate the defendant’s commercial

premises for a “Sweet 16" birthday party being

held there, contended that the defendants owner

and tenant of the rental hall negligently failed to

conduct periodic inspections of a ceiling mounted

chandelier. The plaintiff maintained that as a

result, the chandelier suddenly and without

warning fell, striking the plaintiff in the head,

causing her to suffer a concussion, post-

concussion syndrome, and ultimately, a seizure

disorder which has required the decedent to live

with her daughter, rather than in her marital

house with her husband. The plaintiff also

claimed that she sustained a cervical herniation

necessitating fusion surgery in the incident. The

defendants contented that they had no duty to

make annual inspections of the chandelier and

that the incident had occurred in the absence of

any negligence on their part.

The defendants property owner and tenant had

$500,000 in liability coverage each and were both in-

sured by the same insurance carrier. The case settled

prior to trial for $975,000, with each defendant assuming

1/2 of the liability.

REFERENCE

Knight vs. The Washington Club, et al. Docket no. GLO-

L654-16, 12-14-17.

Attorney for plaintiff: Louis J. DeVoto of Rossetti &

DeVoto, PC in Cherry Hill, NJ.

ADDITIONAL VERDICTS OF INTEREST

Civil Assault

$3,000,000 VERDICT - CIVIL ASSAULT - SEXUAL HARASSMENT - PLAINTIFF WAITRESS

ASSAULTED BY DEFENDANT RESTAURANT PATRON - OFFENSIVE TOUCHING -

WANTON, WILLFUL AND OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT - LEFT ROTATOR CUFF INJURY -

CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY - BRACHIAL PLEXOPATHY - NEUROLOGICAL

IMPAIRMENT - EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AND DEPRESSION - DAMAGES ONLY.

Philadelphia County, PA

The plaintiff in this civil assault action maintained

that she was physically and emotionally injured

when she was a waitress at the defendant

restaurant and was offensively grabbed and

kissed by the co-defendant restaurant patron and

a John Doe defendant. The plaintiff contended

that the defendant assailant, who had been

drinking at the restaurant’s bar for several hours

with a group of other people, including the

unidentified defendant doe, forcefully grabbed

her neck and shoulders as she was walking by,

whipped her around and forcibly kissed her

against her will. The plaintiff indicated that the

defendant Doe subsequently groped her. The

plaintiff’s complaint against the individual

defendants included counts for physically forcing

themselves on the plaintiff for the purpose of

offensively touching her, engaging in intentional,

wanton, willful and outrageous conduct, acting

with deliberate malice, gross and outrageous

negligence, and acting with reckless disregard of

and with deliberate, callous and reckless

indifference to the rights, interest, welfare and

safety of the plaintiff. The plaintiff claimed that

she sustained an injury to her left rotator cuff,

thoracic nerves, C5-C6 radiculopathy bilaterally,

L5-S1 radiculopathy bilaterally, carpal tunnel

syndrome bilaterally, left median and ulnar nerve

damage, left brachial plexopathy, left

suprascapular neuropathy, left knee sciatic nerve

damage, left ear trauma, severe neurological

impairment, psychological and emotional trauma,

depression and severe neurologic injuries. The

defendant restaurant was dismissed from the case

prior to trial and the Doe defendant was never

identified. However, the named defendant

admitted grabbing and kissing the plaintiff and

possibly harming her, but denied that the nature

and extent of the plaintiff’s claimed injuries were

related to the incident.

28 SUPPLEMENTAL VERDICT DIGEST

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