Police Officer Injured in the Line of Duty

Negligent Maintenance, Slips, Trips & Falls

Liam Blainey v. Metro Nrth CMMTR RRA Subsidiary of the M.T.A., the M.T.A. the C.O.N.Y. the N.Y.C.T.A., No. 13919/04

Jury Verdict: $3,160,000.00

On Jan. 14, 2003, plaintiff Liam Blainey, 32, a police officer, was engaged in the normal course of his duties. At about 5 p.m., Blainey was summoned to the site of an alleged carjacking. The suspect fled and was subsequently spotted motionless, on train tracks that were situated beneath an overpass that was formed by East 187th Street, near its intersection at Park Avenue, in the Fordham section of the Bronx. Blainey believed that he could rescue the suspect, so he climbed the near-8-foot-high chain-link fence that guarded the overpass's edge. The fence collapsed, and Blainey plummeted some 40 feet. He landed on the ground, and he sustained injuries of his arms, a hip, a leg, his liver and a wrist.

Injuries:

fracture of his left femur
fracture of his left hip
fracture of the distal region of his left forearm's ulna
fracture of his right arm's ulna
laceration of his liver

He was transported to Jacobi Medical Center, in the Bronx. He underwent open reduction and internal fixation of fractures, and his hospitalization lasted 10 days. He also underwent about two months of inpatient rehabilitation.

Facts and Allegations:

Blainey subsequently underwent three additional surgeries that addressed his left hand and wrist, but he bears a residual deformity of his left hand and permanent residual damage of nerves of his left hand. Blainey contended that the damage causes numbness; a loss of motor skills, sensation and strength; and a reduction of the mobility of his left forearm, hand and wrist.

The police department's medical board recommended that Blainey should retire, and, as a result, Blainey was placed on permanent disability. Blainey's expert orthopedic surgeon examined Blainey and agreed that Blainey is permanently disabled.

Blainey sought recovery of his future medical expenses, his past and future lost earnings, and damages for his past and future pain and suffering.

The defense's vocational-rehabilitation expert opined that Blainey can be trained to perform a job that does not present physical demands.

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