18 Year-old Case
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Lamoni and other children were playing outside that day, but he didn’t know exactly where. Just after noon, he was mowing around a tree in reverse. Glancing over his left shoulder, he caught a glimpse of somebody running directly in the path of the lawnmower. He tried to shift the mower out of reverse, but was unable to do so, and the mower ran over Lamoni’s right foot, resulting in a traumatic amputation of the forefoot, leaving him with only a heel.
Mr. Riordan always had difficulty controlling and shifting the lawnmower. He had communicated these problems to his supervisor, but nothing was done to train, supervise or help him with the problem. His supervisor died in 1994. The only witnesses to what occurred were Kenneth Riordan and Lamoni Riordan, who does not remember any of the details.
Victor Bergman and Matthew Birch tried the case. Suit was filed on February 15, 2002, in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri. The defendant Mormon Church removed the suit to The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, before the Honorable Ortrie D. Smith. At trial the plaintiff alleged that the defendant-church was vicariously liable for the negligence of Kenneth Riordan acting in the scope of his employment, and also directly liable for negligently failing to properly train and supervise Mr. Riordan after having knowledge that he had difficulty operating the lawnmower.
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The defendant argued in a dispositive motion that since Mr. Riordan was immune from suit due to the doctrine of parental immunity which existed in Missouri in 1985, it could not be sued either as a matter of law. This was rejected by the trial court, and was the subject of defendant’s appeal. At trial, defendant argued that Kenneth Riordan was not negligent in the operation of the lawnmower, but rather that this was a sudden and unexpected event that could not have been avoided in the exercise of ordinary care. Further, the defendant argued that the accident was caused by lack of parental supervision and that Mr. Riordan’s negligence, if any, was his failure to supervise his son in his capacity as a parent, for which the defendant was not liable.
The parties stipulated to past medical expenses of $80,651.00. There was no claim for loss of earnings or earning capacity. The future economic damages were hotly contested, based on plaintiff’s testimony that he desires to undergo an elective amputation of his leg above the ankle and below the knee to allow him to utilize high-tech, energy-storing prosthetics. The plaintiff testified that he desires to have surgery known as the “Ertl procedure” in which there is a transtibial amputation with the installation of a bony bridge between the tibia and fibula. In support of this procedure was the testimony of Janos Ertl, M.D., an orthopedist from Sacramento, California, who estimated the cost of the procedure at $57,000.00 – $60,000.00. The defendant argued that the plaintiff had seen two or three other orthopedists who recommended against having
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surgery and that in fact, no health care provider, including Dr. Ertl, said that the surgery is necessary. It just might allow plaintiff to improve his functional capabilities and reduce his level of pain with activity.
A prosthetist testified to plaintiff’s future prosthetic needs and costs, based upon on the assumption that the Ertl procedure will be done. An economist then projected the total costs of the future prosthetic needs at $637,848.00. The jury returned a verdict for past economic damages of $81,651.00, future economic
damages of $682,976.00 and
non-economic damages of $420,000.00. Plaintiff had made a prejudgment
interest demand of $1,000,000.00 in June of 2002, which amounted to an additional $159,789.00. Thus, the total recovery was $1,344,416.00. The eigth
circuit affirmed the verdict in August 5, 2005. |
