Erie Injury Lawyers: Pool Hijinks Lead to Injury Settlement

Our client was injured when thrown into a pool against her wishes. She was working as a cleaning lady for a local physician and the physician was showing her the pool. Our client revealed that she’d never gone swimming due to a fear of water. The physician couldn’t believe it and expressed shock. He insisted that she go into the pool. She refused. The physician was unwilling to accept her refusal. He picked her up (he’s a big man) and jumped into the pool with her.

Our client was panicked and desperate. She fought. The two struggled. Ultimately, she got to safety and stormed out of the area. She called the police. She might never have come to see a private lawyer. Unfortunately, three days later she suffered a dissecting aorta that hospitalized her for several days and kept her out of work for several weeks. Her personal doctor told her that the stress of the pool incident likely was the cause of her heart condition.

The lawsuit revealed that the defendant doctor had a different version of events. According to the doctor, he was showing our client the pool when she inexplicably fell backward into the pool and he was forced to jump in to save her. He said her behavior got more bizarre still when she reacted to his rescue not by being grateful but by being angry with him and storming out of the house and later calling police. The whole incident, he theorized, was a “set up.” The dissecting aorta (which he admitted she could not have planned) was just a lucky coincidence for her, I suppose.

The case marched on. The defendant doctor and his lawyer postured and protested. However, when discovery was done and the doctor had been deposed, the defense tune changed. An insurance adjustor from the doctor’s homeowner’s insurance company called us and wanted to negotiate. The pretense of a “set up” apparently hadn’t even convinced the doctor’s own insurance company.

Fortunately, our client had fully recovered from her dissecting aorta (with absolutely no long-term harm) and thus the case could be settled within reasonable limits. It wasn’t long after the defendant doctor’s deposition that his insurance company settled the case for $70,000, enough to pay her medical bills and to make up for her lost wages, inconvenience, and pain and suffering.

Injury cases present themselves in all sorts of situations. While car accidents, motorcycle accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, and the like are the most common, we nevertheless see many different scenarios in which someone else’s negligence or foolishness causes harm to another. If we can help an injured client get just compensation, we’re glad to do it — even in the unusual fact scenario.

Awarded: $70,000