ADDITIONAL VERDICTS OF INTEREST. Fraud. $______ RECOVERY - DOJ - FRAUD - HOSPITAL CHAIN ACCUSED OF MASSIVE MEDICARE AND MEDICAID FRAUD - VIOLATION OF FALSE CLAIMS ACT

• Pages: 23-24

Civil Assault

$940,000 VERDICT - CIVIL ASSAULT - BATTERY - PLAINTIFF BASEBALL PLAYER WAS

STRUCK IN HEAD WITH A BAT BY DEFENDANT WHILE TRYING TO PREVENT A FIGHT

BETWEEN PLAYERS - PERMANENT INJURY TO VESTIBULAR NERVE.

Witheld County, CT

In this civil assault case, the male plaintiff

baseball player contended that he was struck in

the head with a bat wielded by the defendant

baseball player while the plaintiff was attempting

to prevent a fight between the defendant and

another player. The plaintiff further alleged that

the defendant ball club was vicariously liable for

the plaintiff’s injuries. As a result of the injury, the

plaintiff was diagnosed with a permanent injury

to his vestibular nerve. The defendants denied the

plaintiff’s allegations and disputed causation and

damages. The defendant ball club disputed any

liability, alleging that the defendant player was

not acting within the course and scope of his

employment as a professional baseball player.

The matter was tried over a period of two weeks. At the

conclusion of the trial, the jury deliberated for five hours

and returned its verdict in favor of the plaintiff, and

against the defendant. The jury awarded the plaintiff the

sum of $940,000 in damages, consisting of $140,000 in

past non-economic damages, and $800,000 in future

non-economic damages.

REFERENCE

Johnathan Nathans vs. Jose Offerman and The Long Is-

land Ducks Professional Baseball Club, LLC. Case no.

3:09-cv-00256; Judge Warren Egginton, 07-30-14.

Attorneys for plaintiff: J. Craig Smith and Joshua D.

Koskoff of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport,

CT. Attorneys for defendant Offerman and Frank

Riccio in Bridgeport, CT. Attorney for defendant Long

Island Ducks: Eileen Becker of Loughlin Fitzgerald in

Wallingford, CT.

Construction Negligence

$1,500,000 RECOVERY - FAILURE TO ERECT TEMPORARY WALL DURING BUILDING

RENOVATIONS - PLAINTIFF EMPLOYEE TRIPS WHILE ASSEMBLING TABLE AND FALLS

THOUGH PLASTIC SHEETING USED FOR TEMPORARY WALL - MULTIPLE INJURIES

Union County, NJ

The plaintiff, in his early 60s, was employed by a

teleconferencing tenant in the office building

undergoing major renovations. He contended that

the defendants landlord and contractor

negligently created highly dangerous conditions

by placing a piece of opaque, plastic sheeting in

place of glass that was supposed to be installed

for the wall. The plaintiff contended that as a

result, he fell through the soft plastic and down to

the first floor, after he tripped while helping to

assemble a table on the second floor. The plaintiff

maintained that he suffered multiple fractures to

both legs, including comminuted fractures to the

right calcaneous, right ankle fractures, knee

injuries, a compression lumbar fracture, and a

fracture/dislocation to the right dominant thumb.

The plaintiff was employed as a handyman after

having retired from UPS.

The case settled prior to trial for $1,500,000.

REFERENCE

King vs. Combar Co., LLC. Docket no. UNN-L-0074-12;

Judge Kenneth Grispin, 05-27-14.

Attorney for plaintiff: Cornelius W. Caruso, Jr. of

Tobin Kessler Greenstein Caruso Wiener & Konray,

PC in Clark, NJ.

Fraud

$98,015,000 RECOVERY - DOJ - FRAUD - HOSPITAL CHAIN ACCUSED OF MASSIVE

MEDICARE AND MEDICAID FRAUD - VIOLATION OF FALSE CLAIMS ACT

Witheld County, TX

This class action consolidated several

whistleblower cases against a prominent

healthcare organization, accusing them of

improperly charging federal medical programs.

The matter was resolved through a settlement.

The defendant, Community Health Systems Inc., is

a Fortune 500 company based in Franklin,

Tennessee. In this action, seven whistleblowers,

and later the federal government, accused the

defendant of inappropriately increasing inpatient

admissions at its facilities from emergency room

operations. Whistleblowers claimed that their

hospitals routinely admitted patients who should

SUPPLEMENTAL VERDICT DIGEST 23

Florida Jury Verdict Review & Analysis

Subscribe Now