Federal Court Enters $712,000 Judgment Against the United States for IRS Office Fall on Loose Phone Cord

On July 23, 2008, William Berroyer Sr., a 61-year-old heating and air conditioning contractor from Nesconset, New York, went to the Internal Revenue Service office on Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge for an audit meeting. The IRS agent seated him at a conference table for roughly 45 minutes. When he stood to leave, his foot caught in a telephone cord and he fell against a metal file cabinet. On January 2, 2014, after a four-day bench trial under the Federal Tort Claims Act, U.S. District Judge Arthur D. Spatt entered judgment against the United States for $712,000 in Mr. Berroyer's favor, plus a separate $150,000 award to his wife, Ruth, for the loss of her husband's services.

The cord was about 15 feet long and ran loose along the floor between a phone box and the phone on the table. It was not taped down, and Mr. Berroyer never saw it. Robert G. Sullivan of Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo represented the Berroyers. Their safety expert, a code enforcement officer with decades of building-safety experience, testified that an unsecured cord of that length under a table is a recognized hazard. The government did not dispute that he tripped on the cord. It argued that his injuries were exaggerated.

Mr. Berroyer walked out of the building, but by the time he reached the parking lot his lower legs had gone numb. Within hours he could not work the pedals of his car and had to be carried to his wife's. He spent seven days at St. Catherine's Hospital, including time in intensive care, and then ten days in inpatient rehabilitation. He described his legs as nearly paralyzed at that point. The treating neurologist diagnosed a spinal cord concussion, and later medical opinion described a mild spinal cord injury. He worked through months of physical therapy, moved from crutches to canes, and uses a wheelchair for much of the day. He still lives with leg pain and disturbed sleep. Before the fall he had boated, golfed, danced and walked miles each day with his wife.

The judge found the IRS negligent for leaving an unsecured cord under a table where visitors were seated, and found no fault on Mr. Berroyer's part. On damages the court was measured. Video surveillance and defense doctors showed him walking short distances with a cane, and the judge concluded he had not proven that he could not walk without a wheelchair. He also declined to award lost earnings. Even so, he accepted that the injury was real and that pain and limited walking would continue.

The judgment broke down as follows: $350,000 for past pain and suffering, $250,000 for 15 years of future pain and suffering, and $112,000 in stipulated past medical expenses. Mrs. Berroyer received $100,000 for past loss of services and $50,000 for future loss of services. The court's written decision is the last docket activity we found, and no appeal turned up in the searches we ran.