$50,000 RECOVERY in rear-end collision – Alleged aggravation of lumbar and cervical herniations suffered in auto accident five years earlier – Series of epidural injections – Plaintiff contends injuries prevent her from continuing to pursue career in hospitality management for which she had returned to college and in pursuit of which she was working part time as a banquet waitress – Plaintiff returns to school to earn MSW.
Monmouth County, NJ – The plaintiff driver in her 40s contended that as a result of the negligence of the defendant driver, who struck her in the rear, she suffered aggravations of lumbar and cervical herniations initially sustained in an automobile accident approximately five years earlier.
The plaintiff contended that the injuries sustained in the subject accident occasioned the need for several facet joint injections. The evidence reflected that the plaintiff had initially obtained a degree in hospitality management. She left that field to pursue career on Wall Street. She left Wall Street and was attempting to get back into hospitality field by working as a waitress in a banquet hall at the time accident happened. She was unable to continue doing this because of the new injuries and went back to school to pursue a social work career. The plaintiff sought the cost of that tuition.
The defendant denied that the collision caused the claimed aggravations and contended that the more recent MRI showed no progression was compared with the MRI taken after the earlier collision. The case settled prior to trial for $50,000.