Summary
affirming award of $350,000 for cartilage damage to knee
Summary of this case from Scala v. Moore McCormack Lines, Inc.Opinion
May 8, 1989
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Beerman, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
On September 11, 1984, the plaintiff Lisa Menga, then an 18-year-old high school student, sustained serious injury to her left knee in an automobile collision resulting from the defendants' negligence. The plaintiff was confined to her home for five months following the accident, and was thus forced to complete her senior year of high school with the assistance of a home tutor assigned by the Board of Education. In addition, the plaintiff was unable to return to her part-time job as a cashier during this period.
The uncontroverted medical testimony of the plaintiff's treating orthopedist, elicited during the damages phase of a bifurcated trial, indicated that as a result of the accident, the plaintiff had sustained damage to the cartilage of her knee which, inter alia, necessitated a surgical procedure. The medical testimony further indicated that this injury was both permanent and arthritis-producing, and that the plaintiff, who could be expected to live for 58 more years according to standard life expectancy charts, had already begun to develop an arthritic condition. Additionally, the plaintiff testified that she continues to suffer pain in her knee, and that as a result her participation in normal activities has been curtailed.
In view of the nature and extent of the plaintiff's injury and the undisputed expert evidence, we find that the jury's assessment of damages in the sum of $350,000 was not so excessive as to shock the conscience of the court (see, Reger v Long Is. R.R. Co., 145 A.D.2d 618; Erlon v J.H.W. Constr. Corp., 137 A.D.2d 653). Brown, J.P., Kooper, Harwood and Rosenblatt, JJ., concur.