Connecticut: Allstate Pays $450,000 to Postal Worker Struck by Teen Driver
A New Fairfield postal worker who was severely injured in 2013 when a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old smashed into her postal truck has been awarded $450,000 in her claim against Allstate Insurance. After holding a five-hour mediation hearing in late September, Tom Barrett of West Hartford-based Litigation Alternatives denied Allstate's claim that Christopher Maresco could not stop his car in time because of the placement of a stop sign and because that sign was obscured by vegetation.
"This kid grew up in New Fairfield and there is no way he was not familiar with this intersection," said attorney Barry S. Moller, who represented postal worker Suzanne Yester. "The driver was not paying attention and my poor client just had no chance. She was in a little tin pot, her postal vehicle, and she got blasted. Her life was thrown into turmoil."
Moller, who originally sought $823,000 for Yester, said the $450,000 award, which was dispersed last month, "was mostly for her pain and suffering. She lost use of her leg for 18 months; she had two surgeries; and her knee was blown out. She suffered a horrific knee injury."
In addition, Moller said, "she had back problems as a result of this and her shoulder has become problematic. This poor woman could not bathe herself. Her daily life's routines were completely disrupted." The position statement filed by Moller in Danbury Superior Court states that Yester, who lives in Danbury, "was essentially immobile or hobbled from the date of the accident (in September 2013) through May of 2015." During that time, the papers claim, Yester used "a walker at home and a wheelchair when she attended physical therapy or doctor's appointments."
Yester, a 30-year employee, returned to the same New Fairfield postal route in June 2015. "She is absolutely satisfied with the [mediator's] decision," Moller said. The Federal Office of Workers' Compensation Program did pay Yester $68,500 for medical costs and lost wages. That money will be reimbursed and will come out of the $450,000 settlement, Moller said.
There will be no appeal and the action has been withdrawn, Moller said. Jim Hyland of the New Haven-based law firm Mulvey, Oliver, Gould & Crotta represented Allstate. Hyland wasn't available for comment Wednesday. Barrett declined to comment.
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