Articles Posted in Head Injuries

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A lawsuit was filed against the Chicago Zoological Society, which operates Brookfield Zoo, on land owned by the Cook County Forest Preserve District. The case was filed by Kristine O’Toole for injuries that she suffered when she fell because of an alleged defect in the pavement.

The defendant, the Chicago Zoological Society, which is a not-for-profit corporation, moved to dismiss the lawsuit under the Illinois Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, which includes a shortened statute of limitations — that being one-year rather than two years for the usual tort claim. The shortened one-year deadline applies to “any not-for-profit corporation organized for the purpose of conducting public business.”

The Cook County judge granted the motion dismissing O’Toole’s case because she had not filed the lawsuit within the one-year statute of limitations from the date of her injury that the judge decided applied. She took an appeal claiming that the defendant did not qualify as a “local public entity” that would impose the one-year statute.

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On Aug. 2, 2005, Brandy Pirrello was a resident at Maryville Academy, a facility that houses and treats minors with behavioral problems. At the time, Brandy was 16 years old. She had been admitted to the facility in early 2005 and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was at risk of suicide or self-harm. On Aug. 2, 2005, Brandy leaped from her second-story window, landed on a cement patio and seriously injured herself.

On July 17, 2007, Brandy turned 18 years old. The day before, she filed a lawsuit against Maryville. Brandy claimed that Maryville had been negligent in choosing not to take precautions against the risk that she would try to hurt herself. Brandy was seeking compensation for the expenses that she incurred due to her hospitalization and related medical expenses.

However, the injury and the bulk of the expenses incurred between the ages of 16 and 18 and as such, fell under Illinois Family Expense Act. By the terms of the act, the responsibility for paying for Brandy’s medical care was her parents’ responsibility rather than Brandy herself. Therefore, her parents had the right to sue. Brandy’s parents did not join her as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Brandy’s parents divorced when she was 8, and Brandy was on her father’s health insurance at the time of her injuries. Brandy’s father indicated at a deposition that he did not intend to be involved in her lawsuit.

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Robert Barnett, a homeowner, hired Dawson Construction LLC to do some home repair work. The work included climbing a ladder to get on the roof to make some repairs to it. Juan Garcia , a 43-year-old day laborer, was working for Dawson Construction at the time. Garcia was asked to work on the roof, which was wet.

Garcia climbed the ladder to the roof and then fell. He sustained multiple injuries, including cervical injuries at C3-4, a left elbow fracture and a fractured right knee cap (patella). Garcia underwent a number of surgeries related to his injuries and incurred approximately $118,300 in medical expenses.

He filed a lawsuit against the homeowner, Robert Barnett, claiming that he chose not to comply with state law by correctly evaluating Dawson Construction, which was not licensed or bonded, before hiring the contractor and insuring that the work at his home would be performed safely.

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A 56-year-old woman, Shirley Walker, who was wheelchair-bound, was receiving transportation services from a company known as LocoMotion. LocoMotion was a county-subsidized bus service. While the wheelchair was being loaded onto the transportation van by a mechanical lift, she found that she had been left alone and unattended. Walker released the chair’s brakes believing that she would roll onto the van. But the wheelchair rolled backward and it fell off the lift. She fell with the wheelchair, which resulted in her suffering a fractured neck.

After the incident, Walker was paralyzed from the neck down until her unfortunate death. She was just 56 years old.

The Walker family brought a wrongful death lawsuit that claimed that LocoMotion’s owner was responsible for choosing not to strap Walker’s wheelchair onto the lift or stand behind her as she rolled onto the van. Before the case went to trial, the matter was settled for $500,000.

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On July 17, 2009, Kristen Henson was driving in the left lane of northbound Illinois Interstate 94 in West Deerfield Township when a car driven by the defendant, Steven Teeters, rear-ended her car.  Henson, 35, was a retail purchaser. She alleged in her lawsuit that the crash caused headaches and soft tissue injuries to her neck, lower back, tailbone and pelvic area injuries. 

The headaches and neck injury healed shortly after the crash, but Henson claimed that the low back, tailbone and pelvic injuries were permanent and continued to cause pain and limitations in her daily activities.

The defendant, Steven Teeters, admitted that before the collision his eyes were closed briefly and therefore he did not notice that Henson’s car was moving slowly or slowing down.  Teeters said that because he had his eyes closed he didn’t react fast enough to avoid the impact. Teeters admitted fault, but contested the nature, extent, duration and causation of Henson’s injuries.

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A Cook County jury signed a verdict of $38,681 related to an Aug. 13, 2010 rear-end car crash.  The plaintiff, Christina Pervomskaya, was stopped in a line of traffic on Waukegan Road in Glenview, Ill., when she was rear-ended by Sally Langan’s motor vehicle. 

Pervomskaya, 28, suffered a concussion, post-concussion syndrome, headaches and neck, back and shoulder strains. She worked as a dental hygienist and missed 4 days of work because of this incident.  The defendant, Langan, denied that Pervomskaya was injured to the extent that she claimed and that some of her medical care was not necessary.

Before trial, the demand to settle the case made by Pervomskaya’s counsel was $40,000.  The attorney asked the jury to return a verdict of $80,000.  The offer made by the defendant before trial was $45,000.

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On Sept. 24, 2006, the car being driven by Keisha Geans, who was driving while under the influence of alcohol, crashed into a concrete barrier, overturned and collided with the Miranda family car. Marco Miranda, who was 12, was left permanently disabled after suffering a serious brain injury. Geans’ blood alcohol level was .229, which is almost three times the legal limit.  Geans pleaded guilty to fourth-degree aggravated driving under the influence. The Miranda family sued for their injuries.

On Dec. 12, 2008, Universal Insurance Co., Geans’ insurer, paid the Miranda family the policy limits of $20,000. In return, the Miranda family released all claims against Geans and Universal. After the settlement was finalized, the Miranda family then filed an amended complaint adding the Walsh Group, a construction company. That was filed on Nov. 29, 2010. The Miranda family sued Walsh for negligence, alleging that the concrete barrier it placed on the side of the road was done negligently and was a contributing cause of the crash.

The Miranda family also then sued for contribution  against Geans, alleging that Geans’ driving was a proximate cause of Marco Miranda’s injuries. Geans moved to dismiss claiming that the settlement had ended any liability as to her.

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The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 3.9 million sports-related and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States each year. Most of the reported sports-related concussions occur in high school football. Continuing to play a sport with a concussion or symptoms of a head injury makes the young athlete extremely vulnerable to much more serious injury and even death.

Too often, athletes whose competitive spirit drives them to continue participating even after what amounts to a concussion, return to playing. If in fact the athlete has suffered a concussion, returning to play increases the risks of serious injury or death many times. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, 7.6 million students participated in high school sports in 2009-2010.  Of those, 1.1 million were playing football.  Those participants in football had nearly twice as many athletes participating as the second most popular sport, track and field. Softball ranked third with 540,000 student-athletes nationwide.

Concussions are common in sports. The student athlete and coach may not understand the consequences resulting from concussions sustained during sports play.It has been estimated that 300,000 sport-related concussions occur in the United States yearly. Forty-one percent of the concussions sustained by athletes occurred while playing football, while 22 percent resulted from girls’ soccer. Incidents of concussions are on the rise. Because of that obvious statistic, Illinois has enacted regulations emphasizing the dangers of concussions and the ramifications of non-treatment. 

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