$3,250,000 – Wrongful Death

Injuries: Wrongful Death

Settlement: Policy limits: 3,250,000 (Three million, two hundred fifty
thousand dollars)Date: April, 2024

Attorney: Ronald E. Gluck, Esq.
Breakstone, White & Gluck, P.C., Boston (For the plaintiff)

Case Description

The decedent, a 43-year-old husband and father of two young children, was killed in a crosswalk by a 17-year-old driver. Claims were made against the driver and a restaurant that posted signs on the outside of the restaurant directing customers to park in a parking lot across the street from the restaurant if the on site parking lot was full. On the dark and rainy night of the incident, the decedent and his wife went to the restaurant to celebrate their anniversary. Seeing that the on site lot was full, the decedent dropped his wife at the front door of the restaurant and then parked his car in the remote lot across the street as directed by the signs on the restaurant property. He was then tragically hit in the crosswalk on his walk back to the restaurant. He died the next day. After his death, an investigation by plaintiff’s counsel revealed that the restaurant was aware that the crosswalk was dangerous due to poor lighting provided by the state and town. In the months before the fatality, the owners of the restaurant petitioned the town for permission to increase the number of cars that could park on its lot. In hearings related to the petition, restaurant management testified that the cross walk in question was poorly lit and therefore dangerous and that having its customers and employees park in the remote lot exposed them to danger. The petition for additional on site parking was denied by the town. Nonetheless, the restaurant continued to use the remote lot, continued to post signs directing its customers to the remote lot and did not provide its customers with a valet parking option or provide a “crossing guard” equipped with a flashlight to assist patrons who were using the crosswalk at night. The liability policy limits were paid by the insurer for the establishment and the insurer for the driver of the vehicle.