Angel Ruiz and Jennifer Myers v. Mario Pugliano

Angel Ruiz and Jennifer Myers v. Mario Pugliano

NECK, BACK AND KNEE INJURIES

Union-affiliated Trucker

Queens, New York

The jury found that Pugliano was liable for the accident. It also found that Ruiz sustained a serious injury. It determined that Ruiz’s damages totaled $873,066.38.

$873,066

On Dec. 31, 2009, plaintiff Angel Ruiz, 44, a union-affiliated trucker, was driving on the eastbound side of Union Turnpike, near its intersection at Woodhaven Boulevard, in the Flushing section of Queens. His fiancée, plaintiff Jennifer Myers, was a passenger. Their truck struck one side of a sport utility vehicle that had skidded off of the westbound side of Union Turnpike, over the road’s concrete divider and onto the eastbound side of the road. Myers claimed that she sustained injuries of her back and neck. Ruiz claimed that he sustained injuries of his back and a knee. Myers and Ruiz sued the SUV’s driver, Mario Pugliano. Myers and Ruiz alleged that Pugliano was negligent in the operation of his vehicle.

Ruiz claimed that the accident was a result of Pugliano’s SUV having skidded on ice. He estimated that a snowstorm had begun 30 or more minutes prior to the collision and that Pugliano should have anticipated icy conditions. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that Pugliano’s SUV skidded over a 2-foot-tall concrete barrier, and he argued that such an event could not have occurred if Pugliano had been driving prudently.

Pugliano contended that the accident occurred soon after the snowstorm had begun. He claimed that he could not have anticipated the presence of ice.