A construction supervisor, who was severely injured during a fall while renovating the Central Park Police Station in 2009, was awarded a $1 million payout from an appeals court today.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Mark Grinberg, 64, of Manhattan.
Grinberg was working on the 86th Street Transverse road in the snow when he slipped on a piece of plywood draped in plastic that was covering a hole.
A lower court jury awarded him only $110,000 even though he suffered a “limb threatening injury” to his left leg.
“ I was very disappointed with the original jury verdict,” Grinberg said. “I thought it was totally unfair, but now with this appeal a sense of justice was accomplished.”
He has permanent arthritis, tendinitis and the potential need for future procedures,” according to the Appellate Division decision released today.
“My leg still bothers me and it’s one of those things that I think will bother me for the rest of my life,” Grinberg said, a formerly avid hiker who can no longer walk on uneven surfaces because of the pain.
The higher court found the lower court’s award inadequate.
“Given the severity of the plaintiff’s injuries and the ongoing problems and expected future limitations, the amounts awarded for past and future pain and suffering are inadequate, deviating materially from what would be reasonable compensation,” the Appellate Division ruled.
The five-person judicial panel ordered C&L Contracting Corporation to pay up or undergo a new trial for damages.
David Perecman, his attorney, said Grinberg would only receive about half of the $1 million award because the jury found he was 55 percent responsible for his injuries.
Still, he said, the award is unusual because it’s more than he’d ask for to settle the case and appeals courts are more likely to lower jury awards than to raise them.
An attorney for C&L did not return calls for comment.