New York Attorney Helps Bus Driver Get $1.6 Million in Damages After Accident

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At roughly 3:15 p.m. on July 31, 2013, Plaintiff Clayton Pugh, a school bus driver who was parked, was hit violently by a vehicle. Salvatore Oddo, the Defendant, was driving the vehicle, and it was owned by the NYC Housing Authority. The accident took place at the intersection of East Houston Street and Avenue A in New York County in the State of New York. Due to the violence of the accident, Pugh sustained injuries to his head, wrist, hip, shoulder, and spine – all of which are permanent in nature and required significant intervention to alleviate or correct. 

The lawsuit brought forward by Pugh, the Plaintiff, and a representing New York attorney alleged that the accident only resulted from the negligence and carelessness of the Defendant.  Although the Defendant maintains that a nearby vehicle obstructed his path and caused his veering into Pugh’s car, Oddo’s passenger at the time, Mr. Idumwomyi, testified that he didn’t remember seeing a vehicle cut in front of them before the incident. Pugh’s personal injury lawyer helped leverage this critical piece of information. 

Because of the accident, Pugh’s cervical spine experienced severe injuries. To treat the damage, doctors performed four surgeries on the Plaintiff along with another arthroscopic surgery to fix a labral tear in his left shoulder. Pugh also sustained multiple injuries to his bilateral wrist, lumbar spine, and right hip. The twist in his wrist led to the development of Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Additionally, Pugh’s head received significant injuries. This damage resulted in the development of headaches, anxiety, depression, and even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Plaintiff also experienced the development of permanent scarring in his collar bone and throat following the necessary Cervical HemiVertebrectomy surgery. 

Pugh received treatment at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center multiple times for these aforementioned injuries. The Plaintiff also was restricted to the Health East Ambulatory Surgical building on four different occasions in order to receive epidural injections. Additionally, he spent time in the New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital to undergo cervical fusion surgery and North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System – Franklin Hospital to receive arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder. The road to recovery has been continuous and long. All of these injuries were caused by a single incident that, as the lawsuit alleges, resulted from the Defendant’s recklessness, carelessness, and negligence. 

All injuries that the Plaintiff is struggling with from the accident are continuous and permanent in nature. It’s believed that Pugh has limited movement and experiences discomfort in the negatively affected areas of his body. The Plaintiff has suffered a lower quality of life due to these injuries, including a decrease in enjoyment of his life that he could have experienced if it weren’t for the accident. Pugh was working two jobs at the time of the car accident but had to leave both for a considerable amount of time due to the injuries suffered from the incident. 

With a top attorney in New York on his side, Pugh was able to present a solid case that ended up resulting in a better outcome than he could have expected. Peter S. Gordon, a prominent New York lawyer, argued that the accident wasn’t Pugh’s fault and, as a result, the damages and expenses directly related to the incident should be compensated for. During jury selection a settlement of $1.6 million was finalized.

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