Horrific Brain Damage Case Gains Widespread Media Attention

On behalf of Lovett Law Firm posted in Brain Injury on Wednesday, July 3, 2013.

In one of the largest single-plaintiff damage award cases ever seen in that state, a 43-year-old house painter from California was recently awarded $58 million by a jury. The massive award was given in a case involving a bar beating that left the man not only half of his skull missing, but also with brain damage.

The award was entered against a security company who had hired a man unfit to be working as a security guard. The victim was injured after he attempted to break up a fight between a bartender and a security guard and two of his relatives. A relative of the attack victim apparently got into a dispute with the bartender-manager who came after him with brass knuckles. The security guard then joined in and began beating members of the group.

The security guard apparently beat the man with a baton, kicked him in the head eight times and smashed his skull against pavement four times. Following the attack, the bartender and security guard disappeared, and have not been found since.

As a result of the beating, the man had to undergo multiple surgeries and faces more yet. He is now unable to speak and requires 34-hour nursing home care.

Brain damage of this caliber is indeed horrific, and rightly receives a good deal of media attention. But brain damage can occur under circumstances that are less dramatic, and which still involve a great deal of suffering.

Those who suffer brain damage as a result of car accident may not need half of their skull removed, but may still suffer profoundly life-altering changes as a result of another driver’s negligence. The costs associated with brain damage can be great, and in some cases legal intervention is the only viable option for covering the costs and achieving some measure of justice.

Source: El Paso Inc., “So. Calif. painter awarded $58M in bar beating,” Nick Ut, July 1, 2013.