$75,000 Philadelphia Jury Verdict for Driver With Herniated Disc After Left-Turn Collision

At about 7 p.m. on August 21, 1997, Henry Moore was driving on 11th Street in Philadelphia, approaching Somerville Street, when Eloise Etorma turned left across his path. The two cars collided, and both front air bags in Mr. Moore's car deployed. His car had severe front-end damage. While it sat stopped with Mr. Moore still inside, Ms. Etorma's car rolled back down a hill and hit it a second time.

Mr. Moore was 26, married and the father of two small children. He went to the emergency room at Chestnut Hill Hospital that night with burns on his wrists from the air bags, leg and ankle pain and a headache, and was sent home. The next day he developed pain in both sides of his lower back and legs, with tingling and numbness, and it grew worse over the following weeks.

He treated with Dr. Arnold Lincow for about eight months, with trigger point injections, heat and physical therapy, then went back months later for two more injections and a prescription. Two CAT scans of the lower back and an EMG confirmed a herniated disc at L4-L5 and nerve root irritation at L5-S1. Dr. Lincow testified by videotaped deposition that Mr. Moore's recovery prospects were poor and that his condition would likely worsen and might eventually require surgery.

The injury changed how Mr. Moore did his job as a head packer on the doughnut line at Wonder Bread, where he had worked for 11 years. He missed only about two days of work, but he could no longer lift the 50-pound bags of sugar and had to cut them open and scoop the sugar into the mix. At home he could not take out the trash, mop or carry laundry baskets, had trouble lifting more than 15 pounds, and could not walk his large dog without back pain.

Liability was not contested at trial. Ms. Etorma admitted her negligence, and the defense offered no medical evidence to answer Dr. Lincow. The dispute that mattered was a legal one. Pennsylvania drivers choose between full and limited tort coverage, and the insurer's records showed a limited tort election with a signature in Mr. Moore's name. He said he never signed it. His wife testified at her deposition that she had told the insurance agent that they wanted full tort coverage, and the defense argued she may have signed for him as his agent. Marc Greenfield, who represented Mr. Moore, moved to keep the form from the jury. The trial judge ruled that only the named insured can make the election under the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, so Mr. Moore was not bound by it and could seek both economic and noneconomic damages.

The trial began on August 11, 2000, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, and on August 15 the jury returned a verdict of $75,000 in compensatory damages for Mr. Moore. Ms. Etorma moved for post-trial relief, and Judge Keogh denied the motion on September 26, 2000. Judgment was entered on the verdict on November 28, 2000, and Ms. Etorma appealed to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, challenging the tort ruling and arguing that the verdict was excessive and against the weight of the evidence. In an opinion dated March 5, 2001, Judge Keogh found that a herniated disc with lasting effects on work and daily life supported the award and that the jury was entitled to credit Mr. Moore and Dr. Lincow, whose testimony went unanswered.