MUNICIPAL LAW: $770,000 verdict in a defective sidewalk fall down

A 68-year-old dental hygienist on her lunch break tripped and fell when her foot got caught on an edge where there was a 1.5 inch gap between the brick paver surface and the edge of the sidewalk’s concrete slab.  She sustained a badly fractured right wrist and incurred approximately $95,000 in medical damages.  Her ability to continue work was impacted.

Suit was brought against the Town of West Hartford. According to the Connecticut Law Tribune, at trial the defendant’s representative admitted that the Town did not do routine inspections, and that areas were to be inspected only after complaints were received.

The jury awarded $500,000 for noneconomic damages, $100,000 for lost wages, and $75,000 for lost future earnings, and $95,357 for economic damages/medical bills.

Ellis v. West Hartford