Page 26 - CLT061520

26 ¦ JUNE 15, 2020 VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS

High Court Ruling Upholds
$4.2M For Childbirth Injury

By Robert Storace

A Connecticut Supreme Court Building. Photo by Michael Marciano/ALM
unanimous ruling by the Connecticut Su- It also argued that the the Connecticut Appellate
preme Court has allowed a $4.2 million Court’s decision to dismiss an untimely appeal was
verdict to stand against an obstetrics and an abuse of discretion.
gynecology center in Bridgeport, which a trial jury But the state’s high court disagreed.
agreed was responsible for permanent nerve dam- “Our decision in the present case means only that
age to a child born in their care. each case must stand or fall on its own merits,” Jus-
Plaintiffs counsel claimed that defendant tice Raheem Mullins wrote for the majority. “And
OB-GYN Services P.C. failed to file an appeal the merits of this case do not persuade us that the
of the October 2016 verdict within a mandatory Appellate Court abused its discretion.”
20 days. Mullins wrote that a mistake on the part of the
The defendant had filed a motion to suspend the defense in filing an appeal was not the fault of the
rules of the Practice Book to permit a late appeal. Appellate Court.

CONNECTICUT
Law Tribune