$7.5 Million Settlement for Elderly Woman Run Down and Dragged by a Forklift

Attorneys Daniel J. Mann and Bethany R. Nikitenko secured a $7.5 million settlement for a 78-year-old woman who sustained a catastrophic leg injury when she was run down and dragged by a forklift in a store parking lot.

The accident occurred as the client was returning to her car after shopping. The forklift operator, who was a store employee, had a pallet loaded in the front of the forklift that completely obscured his forward vision. The forklift struck the client and dragged her for an extended distance, causing a significant degloving injury to her leg. She underwent multiple surgeries, including washouts, debridement, and skin grafting. She remains at risk for future complications including skin breakdown, infection and compartment syndrome.

The Feldman Shepherd team used the employee’s personnel file to establish that not only was the employer aware of a prior forklift accident, but that he had also received a performance review three months before the client’s accident stating that he “needs to be more aware of items and objects around him when on the forklift.”