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Severity of Injuries Compared With the Absence of a Damages Award for Past and Future Economic and Non-Economic Loss Indicates an “Impermissible Compromise Verdict” Was Reached—New Trial on Liability and Damages Properly Ordered

The First Department determined the trial court had properly set aside the verdict because it represented an impermissible compromise.  Despite serious permanent brain and spinal cord injuries, the jury awarded no damages for past or future economic or non-economic loss. Plaintiff, a restaurant patron, was injured falling down a dangerous stairwell after opening a door which was usually locked. Plaintiff sued both the landlord and the tenant restaurant. In addition to the “impermissible compromise verdict” finding, the First Department noted that the danger posed by the stairwell supported a finding of liability re: both the landlord and the tenant.  With respect to the “impermissible compromise verdict,” the court wrote:

…[W]e … believe the trial court correctly set aside that verdict and ordered a new trial. The failure of the jury to award damages beyond reimbursement of medical expenses, despite the severity and permanency of plaintiff’s injuries, supported the trial court’s conclusion that the jury rendered an impermissible compromise verdict … . In cases involving seriously injured plaintiffs, where issues of liability are sharply contested, and the damages awarded are inexplicably low, the verdict is most likely the product of a jury compromise … . The crux of the prohibited trade off is that, “in addition to finding plaintiff partially responsible for the accident, the jury also compromised on liability and damages by finding the total amount for plaintiff’s injuries much too low” … . * * *

Since the extensiveness of plaintiff’s injuries cannot be reconciled with the absence of a damages award, the verdict reached by the jury was likely the outgrowth of a compromise, and a retrial is required … . Contrary to the alternate argument that any retrial should at most be limited to damages, we simply cannot know whether the compromise entailed the issue of liability, attribution of fault, the calculating of damages, or any combination thereof. … When there is a strong likelihood that the jury verdict resulted from some type of a trade off, retrial on all issues is mandated … . Nakasato v 331 W 51st Corp, 2015 NY Slip Op 00619, 1st Dept 1-26-15

 

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