[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/trader-joes-worker-who-lost-leg-on-job-awarded-7m\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/trader-joes-worker-who-lost-leg-on-job-awarded-7m\/","headline":"Trader Joe’s Worker Who Lost Leg on Job Awarded $7m","name":"Trader Joe’s Worker Who Lost Leg on Job Awarded $7m","description":"A Bergen County judge awarded Ruta Fiorino, age 52, of Hillsdale, $7,000,000 in compensation for injuries sustained in a November 2013\u00a0motor vehicle incident.\u00a0Bergen County Superior Court judge Charles E. Powers, Jr., handed down the award on June 20, 2016 following a two-day non-jury trial.\u00a0As the defendant conceded liability for her...","datePublished":"2016-09-14","dateModified":"2021-04-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/#Person","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/","identifier":12,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":90}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Ruta-Ruth-Fiorino-with-her-lawyers.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Ruta-Ruth-Fiorino-with-her-lawyers.jpg","height":300,"width":264},"url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/trader-joes-worker-who-lost-leg-on-job-awarded-7m\/","about":["Firm News"],"wordCount":790,"articleBody":"A Bergen County judge awarded Ruta Fiorino, age 52, of Hillsdale, $7,000,000 in compensation for injuries sustained in a November 2013\u00a0motor vehicle incident.\u00a0Bergen County Superior Court judge Charles E. Powers, Jr., handed down the award on June 20, 2016 following a two-day non-jury trial.\u00a0As the defendant conceded liability for her negligent driving, the trial focused on Mrs. Fiorino\u2019s permanent and life-changing injuries.On November 13, 2013, the defendant, an elderly disabled woman, lost control of her car and jumped the curb in from of the Trader Joe\u2019s store in Westwood, New Jersey.\u00a0The defendant\u2019s car struck Mrs. Fiorino a Trader Joe\u2019s employee, as she was retrieving a shopping cart from the cart corral in front of the store.\u00a0The force of the impact from the car all but severed Mrs. Fiorino\u2019s right leg just below her knee.Following a medevac to Hackensack University Medical Center, the trauma and emergency surgeons and specialists tried unsuccessfully to save their patient\u2019s lower leg and knee joint.\u00a0In the end, Mrs. Fiorino underwent an above the knee amputation.Ruta \u201cRuth\u201d Fiorino has undergone 13 surgical procedures and months of painful rehabilitation and physical therapy.\u00a0 Yet she still fights through her so-called \u201cphantom limb\u201d pain, often with the need for strong and potentially habit forming pain medications.The wife of New York executive Dean Fiorino and mother to two teen age boys, Ruta\u2019s life changed dramatically. From an active outdoor enthusiast and sportswoman, she now struggles to re-learn how to walk with a succession of hi-tech prosthetic legs.\u00a0But her new life has also re-focused her on a new personal goal as an advocate for pedestrian safety.Car on pedestrian incidents are surprisingly frequent.\u00a0Many shopping mall events are not reported because the pedestrian is not seriously injured. But despite this common knowledge among corporate retailers nationwide, almost nothing is done to address these public safety hazards. There are no Federal, state or municipal laws or ordinances that require retail store operators to protect their customers.\u00a0What is done is often too little and way too late.The Fiorino\u2019s lawyer, Sam Davis, who tried the case before Judge Powers, has confirmed an unsettling trend in pedestrian accident cases in his firm\u2019s legal practice.\u00a0\u201cThere are a lot more car -on -pedestrian incidents now than ever before in my almost 40 years of personal injury practice in Bergen County,\u201d Davis said, \u201cAnd they occur all over in crosswalks, parking lots, and sidewalks.\u201d\u201cOur investigations have shown that with few exceptions, no one is taking responsibility for these very preventable hazards.\u201d\u00a0\u201cRuta was at a food store, another client was sitting eating ice cream at a sidewalk table in Englewood, and many others are struck and injured while crossing streets in the crosswalks with the lights.\u201d \u201cThe fact that nothing is being done to protect lives,\u201d Davis says, \u201cis deplorable.\u201dTo its credit, Ruta\u2019s employer Trader Joe\u2019s independently installed safety bollards across the front of its Washington store to protect its customers. This retailer has installed similar barriers in other of its stores. But this was a purely voluntary action by this national chain, and it is a rarity among United States retail giants. Apart from the obvious, but relatively modest cost of retrofitting store fronts for pedestrian safety, retailers may see these changes as bad for business.\u00a0Safety barriers interrupt the flow of customers in and out of a store, or they may interfere with the flow of cars through adjacent parking lots.Ruta Fiorino has now taken up public awareness of pedestrian safety as her own cause celebre.\u00a0\u201cWhat happened to me, could happen to anyone,\u201d she said. \u201cShoppers and all pedestrians have the right to be safe, especially on sidewalks and other areas designated for pedestrians.\u201d \u201cMy injury was preventable.\u201d\u201cFocusing on consumer safety in a \u201cbricks and mortar\u201d retail community can also make sound economic sense.\u00a0With more and more consumers opting for Internet purchases, a fear for personal safety is just one more thing that may keep people out of our local stores and on their computers.\u201d\u00a0And that, she said, is bad for our towns\u2019 future.Click to read more:\u00a0Trader Joe\u2019s worker who lost leg on job awarded $7MAbout the AuthorLatest PostsDavis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.Since 1981, the compassionate personal injury lawyers at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon have been delivering results for our deserving clients. We are solely committed to helping injured individuals, never representing corporations.\u00a0No matter how large or small your personal injury case is, you can trust that it is important to us.NYC Construction Accident - The Dangers of Jobsite Falls and Workers' RightsSteven Benvenisti Advocates for HALT Drunk Driving LawDavis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. Named #1 Law Firm"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trader Joe’s Worker Who Lost Leg on Job Awarded $7m","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/trader-joes-worker-who-lost-leg-on-job-awarded-7m\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]