In Denver, Colorado, a woman was awarded by the court an extremely high sum for the death of her pet dog. Robin Lohre will receive the amount of $65,000 from the Posh Maids cleaning company for the demise of her 18-month-old pet dog, Ruthie, after the dog was let out of the house by the cleaning service last year and got hit by a car. The award of $65,000 may be the largest verdict ever made in Colorado history concerning the death of a pet.
According to the plaintiff Lohre, it was her first time to take advantage of the cleaning service last year. She purchased a Living Social coupon at a discounted price of $49 for a 3-hour cleaning service with Posh Maids. Upon arrival of the cleaning crew, she offered to take Ruthie with her but was told by a maid that they would look after her pet. Lohre instructed the maid if she needed to leave the house prior to her return that she should go out the back door as the door in it opens to an enclosed mudroom. Such precaution would have kept Ruthie from darting out into the street.
After two and a half hours, the Posh Maids owner, Miranda Pallone called Lohre informing her that a second maid was brought in and that they were done cleaning. When Lohre came home with her young daughter, they found Ruthie dead under her table. She called the cleaning service to inquire what happened and was told that Ruthie had been hit by a car. She was alive when they left and was making whimpering sounds. Pallone also informed Lohre that Ruthie limped her way back into the house. However, the dog was growling and in an aggressive state which compelled the maids to leave the premises following company policy on aggressive animals.
According to Lohre’s lawyer, the cleaning service did not notify Lohre immediately after the accident. Posh Maids crew also had not taken the dog to the vet nor did something to help the dog survive. Because of their negligence and the emotional distress they caused, Lohre filed a lawsuit.
In April 2012, the judge found Posh Maids responsible for the negligent demise of the dog. Usually the pet owners will only recover the market worth of the animal but Lohre did file for an emotional distress claim citing the pain and suffering she felt upon the loss of her pet. The substantial award in this case was secured upon failure to appear by Posh Maids for the case. It is unclear, however, why Pallone did not show up before the court.

A Texas jury awarded $41.8 million to a teenage passenger who was paralyzed in rollover accident that happened on April 25, 2009. Rubi Ann Rocha, then 17 years old, was a passenger and seated in the right rear seat of a 2001 Ford F-150 that was driven by her boyfriend’s mother. The accident happened when the tread/ belt got detached from the right rear tire. The vehicle spun out of control, rolled over several times and ejected Rocha from the truck. Because she was thrown out of the vehicle, Rocha suffered paralysis from the chest down. She had no leg function and had reduced arm and hand functionality.
The defective tire was a BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A. It was manufactured by Michelin North America Inc. Rocha’s family sued Michelin on her behalf for product liability. The family’s allegation was that there was a manufacturing defect involved in the production of the tire. The tire showed no signs of puncture. There were still plenty of tread but it suffered track error. In the tire-building industry, it is known that tires contaminated with water possess a huge risk for tread/belt separation. Water vaporizes during vulcanization or any heating of the tires. This leaves trapped air pockets between the belts of the tire. The Michelin’s corporate representative acknowledged such phenomenon.
Rocha’s lawyer went on to prove that the problem of the tire came from the tire-processing plant. The Michelin North America Tire factory located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama was proven to have a dilapidated, leaky roof. The poor condition of the roof would cause rainwater to come in and cause contamination of the tire-manufacturing process. Former Michelin employees testified to the leaky roof in the Tuscaloosa facility and said that when it rained, water would enter the building and would contaminate the raw rubber materials. Rocha’s lawyer also went on to pull out the weather records from the National Climatic Data Center to prove that indeed heavy rains did fell on the 24th week of 2004 which was around the time that the tire involved in Rocha’s accident was manufactured.
In March 2011, the jury came down with a verdict finding Michelin 100% negligent. Rocha was awarded a total sum of $41, 816,001.31, which includes $8,861,002 for past and future medical costs, $8,000,000 for past and future physical impairment, $17,000,000 for past and future pain and suffering and $8,000,000 for past and future disfigurement.

Brain injuries are often traumatic in nature. These are usually caused by severe blows to the head in vehicular, sports or fall accidents. Aside from these, some neurological conditions can also cause brain injuries. And while the medical health of the patient can lead to the development of brain injury, the catastrophic state can be prevented if the patient can be given adequate medical response by a healthcare team or professional. If there is inadequate treatment or wrong diagnosis that led to the brain injury of the patient, this constitutes a medical malpractice. The latter is exactly what a Fort Collins woman endured, so she sued. Recently, she received the largest jury verdict ever awarded in Fort Collins, Colorado. The amount was about $3.9 million.
In December 2006, Kristin Myatt arrived at the emergency room at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, complaining of a severe headache. She also experienced other neurologic symptoms like dizziness and weakness. Her blood pressure when checked was dangerously high at 204/97. Kristin was only 34 at the time and was also receiving multiple sclerosis medication which might cause her blood pressure to spike. The emergency department physician who attended Myatt was Jeffrey Updegraff. Updegraff misdiagnosed her condition to be of migraine headache when, in fact, she was having a brain bleeding injury. The condition could have been easily spotted with a CT scan and given appropriate medication. Instead, Updegraff gave her pain medicine and sent her home from the ER.
The following day, Myatt’s headache was gone and so is her ability to walk and talk. She was rushed back to the hospital and she pulled through, but she was now paralyzed on her right side. Because of the serious consequences of the negligent act of the physician to diagnose her medical condition properly when she went to the emergency department the first time, Myatt filed a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Physicians like Updegraff hold medical malpractice insurance in compliance with the state law. He urged his insurance provider, COPIC Insurance Co. to settle the case and provide the maximum limits to his policy of $1 million to Myatt. COPIC Insurance Co., however, forced Myatt to take the case into trial.
This April 2012, the verdict was announced. The jury found Updegraff negligent in medical malpractice and forced his insurance provider, COPIC Insurance Co. to pay $3.9 million to Myatt. Poudre Valley Hospital, along with its contractual emergency staff, was found not negligent. Updegraff had since retired from the medical profession last year.