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First Posted: 10/26/2012
WILKES-BARRE – A Luzerne County jury awarded the estate of a disabled woman, who an attorney says died as a result of injuries she suffered in a car accident, more than $3 million in damages.
The jury returned a verdict late Wednesday of $3 million and then deliberated again Thursday to rule the estate of Barbara Ann Maines, 32, and her family should receive another $100,000 because the defendants acted recklessly. Attorney Michael Pisanchyn of Scranton represented the estate and family.
The suit, filed in August 2010, alleges Hope Enterprises Foundation Inc., with care facilities in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Philadelphia counties, van driver William Birt and Selective Insurance Co. of America were responsible for the September 2009 car crash that later killed Maines.
We believe it was an appropriate verdict in light of the egregious actions of Hope Enterprises, Pisanchyn said. At least the jury found Barbie’s life was not worth any less than anyone else’s.
The jury found both Hope Enterprises and Birt were negligent. The verdict came after a two-week trial.
Mark Sheridan, an attorney for Hope Enterprises, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.
Pisanchyn said his client, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Birt and owned by Hope Enterprises that was involved in an accident in a parking lot on West 8th Street in Bloomsburg on Sept. 8, 2009.
The suit says that as a result of the accident, Maines suffered injuries, including a lacerated liver, which caused internal bleeding.
Maines, of Berwick, was treated by emergency personnel at the scene and later taken to a local hospital for a regularly scheduled doctor visit.
Doctors were notified two days later that Maines had been involved in an accident.
On Sept. 11, 2009, Maines underwent a procedure and had to be revived. Emergency surgery was performed, but Maines died later that day.
Neither Hope Corporation nor anyone on its behalf ever took (Maines) to the emergency room or hospital to be examined … or treated solely for the motor vehicle accident, the suit says, nor did Hope advise the hospital Maines was in a car accident two days earlier.
Barbara Maines bled internally from the injuries sustained in the motor vehicle accident … until these injuries eventually resulted in her death, the suit says.
Pisanchyn said the verdict was a vindication for Maines’ family because the defendants contend they never did anything wrong.
No amount of money can bring back a loved one, but there is a bit of vindication knowing that although the Hope Corporation never said they were sorry, we heard them talking with the attorney and they are going to change policies and procedures we complained about, Pisanchyn said.