Irene Gabo on the Morning Show at Davidzon Radio – August 16, 2021

1. I fell on an escalator in Bloomingdales, going up, but their management says they are not liable. Can I consult you as an attorney?

First, I suggest you hire an attorney, who can request any incident reports, video surveillance and other documentation from Bloomingdales. Second, having represented similar cases before I can tell your that Bloomingdales has a service company, which services escalators, which has its own insurance coverage, as well as a cleaning company that cleans the entire store, which are separate in terms of insurance from Bloomingdales. Therefore, I suggest you or your attorney send a contact letter to the escalator maintenance company and cleaning company about your claim. Representative from Bloomingdales can provide you with their information upon a written request.

2. I was on a motorcycle on a highway and was hit by a car that ran away, who will pay my medical bills? Geico, which is my company refused.

The issue with motorcycles is that they do not have what is called no fault insurance in the State of New York. For example, you are driving your car when you get into an accident and get injured. Regardless of who is at fault your car insurance will pay for your hospital and medical treatment if you sustain injuries in that accident. Motorcyclist do not have that coverage, and unfortunately if they are injured in an accident they often have to use their private insurance which may deny the claim as it does not arise out of illness but of an accident. On the plus side, motorcyclists do not need to prove a serious injury in New York in order to have a case and if you have no insurance, you may be able to recover your medical expenses in the settlement of your case against from the car that hit you.

3. I was taken to Bellevue in May and fell out of bed as they were taking me to xrays. Xray showed a fractured ankle, but I was just released August 1. Can I still sue them?

Yes. Since Bellevue Hospital is a public City hospital, and is under the supervision of its parent company, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, you have 90 days to present the initial claim against both companies, and one year and 90 days to start the lawsuit. How lets say this happened May 5, 90 days has already passed what do you do? From the question it seems that you were in the hospital til recently, therefore you can petition the Court for an extension of the 90 day deadline because you were recently released. You still have time to bring the claim.

4. A ceiling collapsed in my house on my 5 year old. She says her neck hurts now. Super came and patched it up. Can we still do anything, its wrong this happened.

Couple of things to consider. In order to make a personal injury case for your daughter she needs to have an injury that is documented and treatment consistent with the injury. Meaning you have to take her to the hospital, or doctor, she may need xrays and mris and possibly physical therapy for her neck. As far as proving the case, unless you took the photographs once the ceiling fell, you still have the superintendent, who would have had to report this incident to the landlord, if you didn’t and if there is a case, eventually the super will testify under oath and say what happened to the ceiling and why. Perhaps there were some issues that the neighbors above you had, perhaps you should speak to them. Also if the ceiling has not dried up yet where it was fixed, or there is a discoloration that could be seen I suggest you take a photograph.

5. In my building as I was leaving the garage in my car, the garage door all of the sudden fell on top of my car and I lost control and hit a wall. They say it was my own fault. Can you help?

I certainly can and you can call my office and request a consultation. Many buildings these days have garage cameras which you can request to show that the incident was not your fault. Also, I assume the garage door is programmed to open and close when the cars are not under it directly and the fact that it fell on you means it was not working as intended. I assume you have photos of your car showing damage from the garage door falling on it.

6. I was biking on Coney Island in a bike lane and a pedestrian stepped into my lane without looking and I ran into her. Now she wants to sue me, I got a letter from her lawyer. Can you help me?

Yes, we represent people who may not have insurance to cover these accidents on an hourly basis. Do you know the extent of the injuries this woman sustained. I would also want to know what assets you have that they can go after. I have had cases similar to this and once the attorney for the other side did asset search to find out that my client didn’t own any property and had no insurance to cover this accident, they would drop the case, because they don’t get paid til their plaintiff gets paid and if my client has no assets they would be wasting their time pursuing this case, especially if she was partially at fault and if injuries are not serious.