Verdicts and Settlements

$500,000 for Run-Over Foot

Sierant v. DiFerraro Inc.:A burial vault company whose truck ran over a man’s foot at a funeral has paid $500,000 to settle a Union County suit.

Leon Sierant, now 38, of Kenilworth, was at St. Michael’s Cemetery in South Hackensack when his left foot was run over by the left rear wheel of a truck owned by DiFerraro Inc. of Wayne.

Sierant broke his left ankle and five bones in his left foot and doctors implanted a metal plate and screws, says his lawyer, Michael Forrester, of Perrotta, Fraser, Forrester & Panitch in Clark. Sierant was left with a slight limp. He could not return to his job as a loader at a trucking company and had to take the less strenuous job of forklift operator.

Sierant sued DiFerraro and its driver, Roy Mundy of Highland Lakes. Sierant’s PIP carrier, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. of Boston, asserted $140,000 lien for Sierant’s medical expenses. But the defense maintained that Sierant was partly responsible because he walked into the path of the truck.

In early August, court-appointed arbitrator Paul Endler Jr., a partner at Westfield’s Garrubbo, Romankow, Rinaldo & Capece, awarded Sierant $750,000, with a finding of 25 percent contributory negligence that reduced the award to $562,000. Defense attorney Kenneth Mullaney Jr., a partner at Dwyer, Connell & Lisbona in Fairfield, rejected the award. On Aug. 22, the parties agreed to settle for $425,000 to Sierant and $75,000 to Liberty Mutual. The plaintiff received payment on Sept. 15. The defendant’s insurer is New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Cos. of Trenton.

- By Charles Toutant