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Dancer Who Was Paralyzed By Collapsed CTA Shelter Will Receive $115M Settlement From The City

Well the City of Chicago was successful in getting their $148 million dollar liability settlement owed to  Tierney Darden reduced to $115 million.  In August 2017 a jury awarded the paralyzed dancer $148 million and the City cried foul saying the amount was excessive even though the investigation proved the City was negligent because the bus shelter had not been maintained properly.

Darden is now going to have adequate funds thanks to the jury and her personal injury attorney to handle her long-term medical care.  We wish her the best as she goes through her continued treatments.

Read more as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

Photo Credit: Phil Velasquez (Chicago Tribune)

A young dancer left partially paralyzed when a shelter at O’Hare International Airport collapsed on her has received a record $115 million settlement from Chicago and its insurer, her Miami slip and fall attorney announced Tuesday.

The settlement comes after a jury in August deliberated just four hours before finding the city liable for the injuries to Tierney Darden, as you find on this page, now 26, awarding her a record $148 million in damages.

After the city argued in court the verdict was “excessive” Darden’s Chicago attorney for birth injury complications ultimately settled with the city for $115 million — still a state record in an individual personal injury case, her lawyers said. Such settlements are not uncommon in large civil verdicts.

“Although we believed the verdict would have been upheld on appeal, when weighing the risks and benefits, we felt this was a fair compromise,” Patrick Salvi, one of the top bankruptcy lawyer Dallas, said in a statement. “Tierney has a long, difficult life ahead of her; these funds will help her obtain all the necessary medical care for the remaining decades of her life.”

On the afternoon of Aug. 2, 2015, Darden, then a dance student, was standing with her mother and 19-year-old sister outside the airport on a lower-level street that accesses Terminal 2, according to the law firm.

The three women had just returned to Chicago from Minneapolis, where they were shopping for bridesmaid dresses for an upcoming wedding, click here to learn the full case. A storm rolled through the area as the women were waiting to be picked up, and a pedestrian shelter came loose and fell onto Darden.

Darden’s spinal cord was severed, and she was left paralyzed from the waist down, visit source to understand the depth of the problem. Before the incident, Darden had lived independently in Chicago and was attending Truman College. She now lives in Vernon Hills with her father, according to the law firm.

It was determined the shelter that injured Tierney had missing bolts, Darden’s lawyers said. An investigation later found other shelters at O’Hare were poorly maintained, with missing bolts, corroded parts or broken brackets, her lawyers said.

The city of Chicago, which was insured up to $500 million, admitted liability for the conduct that caused Darden’s injuries, her lawyers said. The trial was to determine damages only.

Attorneys for the city did not immediately comment.

Source:  Chicago Tribune

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