News & Views

News and Views

News and Views: Winter 2005

Seat Belts were trapped under back seat; Steve Rossman obtains a $4.5 million settlement

$4.5 million settlement in physician negligence case

Products liability settlement: $1 million for landscape worker

Elderly Amtrak passengers injured when auto train derails: $800,000 settlement

RBR&S partners get $750,000 settlement for worker injured in South Carolina rail yard

Electric cart at Amtrak station improperly maintained; $233,000 settlement

Jury verdict of $455,000 for injured short-haul truck driver

In April 2004, Rossman Baumberger Reboso Spier & Connolly celebrated the 30th anniversary of the firm’s founding by senior partners Steve Rossman and Chuck Baumberger at a reception with some of our friends and colleagues at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coconut Grove.

Seat Belts were trapped under back seat; Steve Rossman obtains a $4.5 million settlement

While Rossman Baumberger Reboso Spier & Connolly’s client was on vacation in a foreign country, he was riding in the back seat of a rental car. Although he looked for seat belts so he could buckle up, he could not find them. The car swerved off the vehicle and down an incline, and the passenger was ejected. He suffered a spinal cord injury.

In early 2005, prior to trial, RBRS founding partner Steve Rossman obtained a $4.5 million confidential settlement for the plaintiff after a complex legal battle over responsibility for the absence of seat belts.

Mr. Rossman sued the US-based parent company of a foreign rental car agency on behalf of the seriously injured man and his wife.

The defendant argued that the danger of not having seat belts was obvious and that the foreign rental car company was an independent contractor and not an agent of the parent. The judge agreed with the defendant and granted the Motion for Summary Judgment.

On the Motion for Rehearing, Mr. Rossman argued that an obvious danger would not alleviate the rental car company’s duty to properly maintain or inspect the rental car, and that the seat belts were allowed to be buried under the back seat after a negligent inspection contrary to company policy.

On rehearing, the judge reversed her order, allowing the case to go before the jury. At this point, the defendant settled.

Go to top

$4.5 million settlement in physician negligence case

Rossman Baumberger partner Steve Rossman recently obtained $4.5 million in a case of physician negligence during the labor and delivery of an infant in April 1997. By the time the infant was finally delivered by C-section, she required extensive resuscitation and suffered significant brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.

Go to top

 Products liability settlement: $1 million for landscape worker

Polo Club Worker nearly loses arm; no shield over leaf blower’s moving parts

A long-time employee in the landscaping department at the Polo Club Boca Raton nearly lost his arm while operating a leaf blower. The blower, attached to the rear of the tractor, was used to keep the medians throughout the community clean.

On Dec. 29, 1999, Smith Alfred, 55, was operating the tractor and blower when a tree branch got stuck under the tractor near the area where the blower was connected.

When Mr. Albert reached to remove the branch, a breeze caused his jacket sleeve to get caught in the blower’s moving parts. His arm was twisted around the part that connects the blower to the tractor, nearly ripping it from his body.

After hours of surgery and months of rehabilitation and recovery, Mr. Alfred’s arm was saved, but was of little use.

Steve Rossman, who recently settled Mr. Alfred’s case against Agrimetal, the manufacturer, said: “This tragedy could have been prevented very easily and at minimal cost by designing and manufacturing the blower with a shield or guard that would have covered the moving parts.”

Go to top

Elderly Amtrak passengers injured when auto train derails: $800,000 settlement

Harry and Beatrice Singer, 92 and 82 years old, were traveling the Amtrak Auto Train to transport their car in Crescent City, Fl., April 2002, when the train derailed, throwing them around inside.

Three Rossman Baumberger partners, Howard Spier, Chuck Baumberger and Alex Reboso, worked on the case. Their investigation found that the track, owned and maintained by CSX Transportation, had not been inspected in the weeks leading up to the crash. In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board investigation supported the law firm’s finding that erosion of the track side embankment and unstable track structure were factors in causing a section of the track to go out of alignment.

Both suffered extensive injuries, from which they partly recovered. As a result of a thorough investigation and demonstration of the Singers’ injuries, RBR&S obtained a settlement of $800,000 for Mr. and Mrs. Singer from Amtrak and CSX Transportation.

Go to top

RBR&S partners get $750,000 settlement for worker injured in South Carolina rail yard

In April 2001, a high-rail truck traveling in reverse failed to sound an alarm. The truck hit a 24-year-old freight train conductor in the CSX rail Yard located in Cayce, S.C., near Columbia.

Partners Howard Spier and Chuck Baumberger represented conductor Brian Hodge, whose leg was severely injured during the accident. According to Mr. Spier, not only did the truck fail to sound a backup alarm, but also the railroad company did not have a spotter behind the truck which was traveling on the track.

After the accident, Mr. Hodge had surgery on his injured left leg to insert a rod that is held in place by screws. He has a slight limp and is unable to lift more than 20 pounds.

Just prior to trial, Mr. Spier and Mr. Baumberger obtained a $750,000 settlement for Mr. Hodge.

Go to top

Electric cart at Amtrak station improperly maintained; $233,000 settlement for worker’s knee, shoulder injuries

RBR&S partner Howard Spier handled the case of a 51-year-old Amtrak employee, Judy Seymour-Harris, who was injured in October 2000 while operating an electric cart that went out of control at about 5 mph.

The cart struck a nearby train at Amtrak’s Hialeah station, causing Ms. Seymour-Harris to be thrown from the cart and onto the cement platform. Through experts in mechanical engineering and accident reconstruction, Mr. Spier established that the accident occurred because of defects in the cart, that was also negligently maintained.

As a result of the accident, Ms. Seymour-Harris suffered injuries to her left knee and injuries to her left shoulder that necessitated surgery. In addition, she developed and was treated for fibromyalgia. Because of her physical condition, she was deemed disabled from returning to her job with Amtrak.

Three days before trial, Mr. Spier reached a $233,000 settlement on her behalf.

Go to top

$455,000 jury verdict for short-haul driver

Jorge Gonzalez was a truck driver for a local short-haul company. One day he was sent to a glass manufacturer to pick up several crates of glass and to bring them to the defendant, Econocaribe Consolidators, Inc., for shipment overseas. The crates weighed nearly a ton each and were placed on their sides like mattresses.

After Mr. Gonzalez arrived and the first crate was removed, the defendant’s forklift operator suddenly and without warning began dragging the second crate. Mr. Gonzalez was alone in the back of his truck and no Econocaribe employees were there to steady the crate. It immediately toppled toward Jorge, who threw his arms up to avoid being crushed. Because of the crate’s immense weight, his left forearm was immediately snapped in three places, and he was screaming in pain.

Jorge ultimately underwent three surgeries in his left arm, which included the insertion of metal plates and screws to properly align his shattered arm bones.

Econocaribe’s insurance company responded to the lawsuit by wholly faulting Jorge for his injuries, by alleging he pulled the crate down on himself. After a five-day trial, the jury found Econocaribe 85 percent responsible for the accident and awarded Jorge $455,000 for his injuries.

Go to top