The Flood Law Firm recently secured an $890,000 settlement for a 42-year-old delivery man who severely injured his neck after he slipped on a sheet of ice.
The incident happened in February 2015 when German Perez was delivering furniture to Bassett Furniture at a strip mall in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Attorney and managing firm partner Brian Flood represented Perez. He said the area where Perez fell had a dangerous three-day accumulation of ice that should have been cornered off.
“There was ice on the roof of the building and there were ice dams forming,” said Flood. “The ice dams were also forming on the ground and were not going down the drain.”
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A landscaper had been hired to remove sheets of ice, but the issue was never resolved. Attorney Flood explained that Perez “was there every day, both morning and night, for three days. But the situation with the ice was getting worse.”
The attorneys at The Flood Law Firm agreed that it would have been reasonable for the defendants to put up a warning sign, but they failed to do so.
Flood said the incident caused his client to suffer ongoing pain and limited his range of motion. Perez suffered two herniated discs requiring neck surgery. His medical bills totaled $91,166.
The most complex matter of the case was assigning liability for Perez’s injuries. Three defendants were listed on the lawsuit: Brookfield-based strip mall Brookfield Square, Basset Furniture and Mike’s Lawn Maintenance.
In his representation of Mr. Perez, Flood asserted that Brookfield Square was negligent about the ice and should have taken steps to address it, that Basset Furniture was liable for instructing Perez to make the delivery in the dark at 7:30 p.m. and that Mike’s Lawn Maintenance company was responsible for employing a contractor who failed to remove the ice.
The settlement was split three ways. Brookfield Square’s insurance carrier, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., paid $450,000; Mike’s Lawn Maintenance’s carrier, Main Street America Group, covered $400,000; and Bassett Furniture, which is self-insured, paid the remaining $40,000.
Flood added that Perez was “very satisfied with the settlement. He has gone through a lot, and he preferred to settle this amicably, rather than go through a trial.”
