Plaintiff, a seated passenger on a New York City Transit bus, sued the Transit Authority as a result of an incident which occurred on April 24, 2018. At that time, the bus was caused to come into contact with an Access-A-Ride vehicle and Plaintiff alleged that he was injured as a result of the contact between the two vehicles. At trial, video was used to show the manner contact between the two vehicles as well as the Plaintiff’s condition on the bus. We argued that the Transit bus operator faced an Emergency Situation and, as a result, there was no negligence on behalf of the Transit Authority. This was a heated point of contention between the parties as Plaintiff opposed providing the charge to the jury. However, we successfully argued that the charge was warranted and such was given to the jury. The jury returned a unanimous verdict of no negligence against the Transit Authority. The Plaintiff’s demand at trial was $3.5 million and there was an offer of $150 thousand.
Gladstone C.F. Yearwood v. New York City Transit Authority, MTA Bus Company, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Stacey Mendes, Premeier Paratransit LLC., and Herold Joseph, Index No.: 524174-2018 – Kings County Supreme