$700,000 Result for Building Negligence Leading to Amputation

$700,000 mediation result for a 60-year-old disabled Brooklyn woman, living alone, and primarily bound to a wheelchair due to prior injures and ongoing health conditions. In the Spring of 2021, she was in the process of transferring herself from her wheelchair to the toilet, when she lost her balance and her right arm, at the elbow, got stuck between a grab bar and the wall. Due to her disabilities, she was unable to free herself. She began screaming and banging on the walls. Over the next 24 hours a neighbor heard her screams and notified the building super. Likewise, a family member called the same super and asked if he could check on her. The super and our client did not get along, and the super did the bare minimum of knocking on her door and then walking away, even though he had a set of master keys to open all apartment doors. Overall, the plaintiff remained trapped in the bathroom for three days until her tenant coordinator came to visit and heard the plaintiff say “help, I’m dying”. She notified police and EMS. Due to the awkward position of hanging by her dominant arm, the plaintiff’s circulation was cut off, and the arm became gangrenous, requiring amputation below the elbow. As we approached trial, the neighbor refused to testify for fear of being evicted, and the plaintiff was too ill to testify on her own behalf. Her family insisted that we resolve the case, rather than try it.