Taxi Cab Co Pays Woman Injured in Jackson Co. Collision -- $2.95 Million

Taxi Cab Company Pays $2.95 Million to Woman Injured During Jackson County Intersection Collision

family members and coworkers confirmed that Eddie Mae was previously a happy, healthy and energetic person. They also confirmed that now, as a result of her injuries, Eddie Mae cannot work, cannot walk without assistance, cannot clean her house, mow her yard or otherwise live independently.

Eddie Mae's treating orthopedic surgeons testified that the taxi-cab collision aggravated Eddie Mae's arthritis and caused nerve root impingements and tears that did not previously exist. It was the collision — combined with the arthritis and other factors - that directly caused or at least directly contributed to cause Eddie Mae's disabling injuries and damages. Put differently, had the collision not occurred, Eddie Mae would have continued to be asymptomatic and lived a full, active life. Defendant was left to face the causation testimony of Eddie Mae's treating doctors and the testimony from friends, family and co-workers with a single retained expert who did not know Eddie Mae and had never treated her.

A week before trial, the cab company paid $2.95 million to settle. We thank co-counsel Marc Bendinelli of Denver, Colorado for his outstanding work in this case.

Eddie Mae Walker was seriously injured on June 2, 1999, when a Yellow Cab Company taxi cab collided with the vehicle in which Eddie Mae was a belted, front seat passenger. Lynn Johnson and Scott Nutter filed a lawsuit in Jackson County, Missouri against Yellow Cab, the cab driver and the driver of Eddie Mae's vehicle. The collision occurred at an unmarked intersection on the County Club Plaza. Liability was disputed with the cab company claiming the other driver failed to stop at the intersection, was driving at a high speed and failed to keep a safe lookout. Although the cab driver testified that he "always" stopped and checked for traffic at unmarked intersections and admitted it would be "reckless and unsafe" to fail to do so, our investigation uncovered an eyewitness who disputed the cab driver's claims. The eyewitness testified that the Yellow Cab barreled through the intersection without stopping or slowing down and struck Eddie Mae's vehicle on its front passenger side. The cab driver's story was also undermined by Yellow Cab's dispatch procedure. Just prior to the collision, the cab driver was parked outside the Capitol Grille waiting for business on a slow night. A call came from dispatch indicating that someone needed a ride from Houston's Restaurant. The dispatch call goes to all Yellow Cab drivers on a "first come, first served" basis, a practice known by drivers as "rip and run." Plaintiff was prepared to argue that the cab driver was rushing to Houston's to get that business and blew through the intersection in reckless disregard for the safety of others.

The biggest challenge of the case involved proving causation and damages. Simply put, the severe nature of Eddie Mae's injuries did not seem to match the collision, a point the defense repeatedly emphasized. The taxi cab was traveling 35 mph when it struck Eddie Mae's vehicle — which was going only 5 mph. The two drivers were not injured, and Eddie Mae refused treatment at the scene. Later that evening, Eddie Mae was taken to the emergency room with complaints of pain in her face and arm and other soft tissue injuries. She did not suffer any fractures or herniations. Eddie Mae was treated and released with instructions to follow up with her primary care physician.

Eddie Mae did not seek treatment for her neck pain until June 10, a week after the collision. After months of conservative treatment, an October 1999 MRI revealed severe cervical spinal stenosis with nerve root irritation requiring cervical fusion surgery from C-3 through C-7 involving plating, screws and a bone graft. Eddie Mae also had bulging discs in her lower back, and her treating orthopedic surgeon recommended future lumbar fusion surgery. Moreover, Eddie Mae developed shoulder pain following the collision, and a September 2000 MRI showed a rotator cuff tear requiring surgery. Eddie Mae became totally disabled and unable to return to work as a bus driver — a job she held for more than 20 years.

There were several hurdles to overcome in proving the collision caused such severe injuries. Eddie Mae was 57 years old, and it was undisputed that she has pre-existing degenerative arthritis in her neck, lower back and shoulder. Eddie Mae was also a large woman and suffered from hypertension and high cholesterol. These conditions, some alone and certainly when combined, could potentially have caused all the injuries with which Eddie Mae was suffering. Based largely on the lapse in time between the collision and the onset of Eddie Mae's symptoms, the defendant's expert orthopedic surgeon was prepared to testify that Eddie Mae's injuries resulted from pre-existing conditions unrelated to the collision.

The case turned on Missouri law with regard to multiple causes of damage and the testimony of Eddie Mae's treating physicians. It was undisputed that but for the preexisting arthritis in her neck, back and shoulder, Eddie Mae would not have been injured so severely. Under Missouri law, however, a plaintiff with pre-existing conditions can still recover all his/her damages if an event directly caused or "directly contributed to cause" the injuries — as reflected in MAI 19.01. We demonstrated through Eddie Mae's primary care doctor that, prior to the collision, she had no history of neck, back or shoulder pain. In fact, before the wreck, Eddie Mae was very active — working full time as a bus driver and serving, among other activities, as president of the bus driver's union. Testimony from friends,