hit in Walmart

[anearthw]

Deanna Hoffmeister v. Wal-Mart, Garfield County (CO) District Court, Case No. 95-CV-103. ****** H. Freeman, Aspen, CO for plaintiffs. Scott J. Eldredge for Wal-Mart.

Plaintiff was awarded $355k (of which $154k was lost wages) for a woman who injured her lumbro-sacral spine, cervical spine and shoulder and developed thoracic outlet syndrome

So at OP's estimate of $2k per HOUR of this, she was compensated about 100 hours worth of her time - serious spine shoulder/injuries which caused a career loss. So OP, you can see your demands are actually quite unreasonable compared to previous lawsuits against Wal-Mart in your state (the $1-3 million dollar successful suits involved loss of body parts).

Even lawsuits against Wal-Mart in other states for an estimate $5-15k resulted in actual injury.

 

[CJane]

Deanna Hoffmeister v. Wal-Mart, Garfield County (CO) District Court, Case No. 95-CV-103. ****** H. Freeman, Aspen, CO for plaintiffs. Scott J. Eldredge for Wal-Mart.

Plaintiff was awarded $355k (of which $154k was lost wages) for a woman who injured her lumbro-sacral spine, cervical spine and shoulder and developed thoracic outlet syndrome

So at OP's estimate of $2k per HOUR of this, she was compensated about 100 hours worth of her time - serious spine shoulder/injuries which caused a career loss. So OP, you can see your demands are actually quite unreasonable compared to previous lawsuits against Wal-Mart in your state (the $1-3 million dollar successful suits involved loss of body parts).

Even lawsuits against Wal-Mart in other states for an estimate $5-15k resulted in actual injury.

Resulted in actual injury AND long term damages - such as the aforementioned loss of career. An 80+ year old person is going to have a hard time proving that any damages were long term or affected future earning capacity.

 

[anearthw]

Absolutely CJane, thank you for adding that.

And most of all, I can only imagine that the stress of going through litigation (let alone Wal-Mart litigation) is far more detrimental to the health & wellbeing of an 85 year old woman and her ill 89 year old husband, than any potential "payday" (which is unlikely anyways). Nobody wants to deal with that crap in their last few years.

 

[katiekate32]

The end of the story.

Well.. here is how it all worked out.

Walmart flat out refused to pay any of the medical bills that were the direct result of the injury they caused to her. It was amazing.

Hired an attorney.

He convinced them that walmart wasn't going to look good running over a grandmother and forcing it all into a court room. Be certain a jury trial will be required.

Walmart settled for exactly what my Mom asked for in the first place...plus all the attorney fees. Idiots could have saved a bunch of money by just settling in the first place. They actually thought my Mom should pay for the ambulance, hospital, etc...when it was their employee that ran her over!! Walmart attorney claims they dismissed the employee that refused to make this settlement in the first place.

Mom received the check today.

 

[mmmagique]

Good. This story made me so sad when you posted it. I hope your mom and dad are doing well.

 

[Ladyback1]

Well.. here is how it all worked out.

Walmart flat out refused to pay any of the medical bills that were the direct result of the injury they caused to her. It was amazing.

Hired an attorney.

He convinced them that walmart wasn't going to look good running over a grandmother and forcing it all into a court room. Be certain a jury trial will be required.

Walmart settled for exactly what my Mom asked for in the first place...plus all the attorney fees. Idiots could have saved a bunch of money by just settling in the first place. They actually thought my Mom should pay for the ambulance, hospital, etc...when it was their employee that ran her over!! Walmart attorney claims they dismissed the employee that refused to make this settlement in the first place.

Mom received the check today.

And you're mom has contacted Medicare and let them know all of this? (or her attorney has)
If Medicare paid any portion of the medical bills, Medicare can (and will if appropriate) attach a portion of your mother's settlement.

 

[ecmst12]

I am sure that the attorney was aware of the subrogation requirements and paid medicare before sending the client her check.

 

[justalayman]

If you are acting as mom's mouthpiece, that counts as negotiating on her behalf, even if you are only repeating exactly what she tells you.r.

I disagree. He (as claimed) is doing nothing more that what an interpreter for a person speaking a foreign language or for a deaf person would do.

 

[Ladyback1]

I am sure that the attorney was aware of the subrogation requirements and paid medicare before sending the client her check.

Oh, I would hope so. If not, then the attorney really knows nothing about third-party liability in regards to Medicare.
And I'm sure the attorney took his fair share of the settlement (25-30% and fees)...so I wonder how much the check was actually for (assuming it came from an attorney).