Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

A Nanticoke couple has been awarded $1.96 million in a verdict returned by a Luzerne County jury against the Tennessee corporation that operates Dollar General stores. The couple, Joan and Jay Urbanski, was represented by personal injury Attorneys Patrick Dougherty, Joseph Price and Brian Walsh of the DLP law firm. Attorney Price believes the verdict to be a record in Luzerne County for that type of case. It also could go higher as a motion has been filed seeking delay damages against Dollar General.

Mrs. Urbanski, 40, was injured in the fall at a Dollar General Store in Hanover Township on Sept. 4, 2000. She fell after stepping on transparent plastic packaging material that had been left in the store aisle. The jury determined Mrs. Urbanski, a nurse, should receive $862,000 for economic damages, including lost income and the costs of ongoing medical treatment, and $1 million in punitive damages. Her husband was awarded $100,000 for loss of companionship. Dollar General admitted negligence relative to Mrs.Urbanski’s fall, but disputed the extent of her injuries and the diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a nerve disorder resulting from the fall, which disables Mrs. Urbanski. Mr. Price said the case and verdict have a component of deterrence. Attorney Price noted :”We wanted to tell this Tennessee corporation that, if they’re going to have outlets and make profits from people in Northeastern Pennsylvania, then they need to operate safe stores”.

Testimony concluded Wednesday in a federal trial related to the sexual assault of an 86-year-old woman four years ago at an assisted-living facility in Wyoming County.

The former Nicholson woman, now 90 and living in Tennessee, is seeking more than $75,000 from Country Living Personal Care Home, Nicholson, and its owner, Shirley D. Sheridan, of Montrose, resulting from the sexual assault on Feb. 27, 2002.

It is The Times-Tribune’s policy not to identify sexual assault victims.

The woman, a resident of the home, was sexually assaulted in her room by Daniel Statham, then 31 and also a resident of the home. Mr. Statham, who is mentally handicapped, was a sexually violent predator convicted in 1995 of aggravated indecent assault involving a 14-year-old girl.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt, who presided at the three-day long trial, gave lawyers a month to submit proposed findings of fact in the case. He did not indicate when he will rule.

The woman’s complaint alleges the home and Mrs. Sheridan were negligent by disregarding her safety and rights, leading to the assault.

The victim’s attorney, Sean McDonough, said Mrs. Sheridan knew Mr. Statham was a convicted sexual offender and neglected to inform the staff about it. Mrs. Sheridan testified that she was not told about his Wayne County conviction and would not have agreed to house him if she knew.

Attorney Eugene Hickey, who represented the care home and Mrs. Sheridan, said the home was not at fault and Mr. Statham was “dumped” on the facility.

Mr. Statham pleaded guilty in February 2003 in Wyoming County Court to aggravated indecent assault in the case and was sentenced to five to 10 years in a state prison.