Jury awards $15.8M to crash victim
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A Connecticut construction company was ordered Monday to pay $15.8 million in damages to the family of a Finleyville woman who was severely injured in a Route 51 crash in Pleasant Hills five years ago.
An Allegheny County Common Pleas Court jury found Lane Construction Corp., the state Department of Transportation and the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash negligent in a civil case brought by the relatives of Brenda Gump-Schragl, now 56. Gump-Schragl suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the June 11, 2009, crash. The crash occurred on the day before Gump-Schragl’s daughter’s wedding.
According to the family’s attorney, Anthony Mengine, the lawsuit claimed that the construction zone was dangerous and no improvements were made after several previous collisions in the same area. Mengine said PennDOT and the other driver, Adam Mains, now 25, settled before the two-week trial. The jury found Mains 42 percent responsible for the crash and PennDOT 40 percent responsible. Although Lane Construction was deemed only 18 percent responsible, under Pennsylvania law the company is liable for the entire damage verdict because the other defendants already had settled.
Gump-Schragl was injured when her son, Daniel Gump, tried to turn left from the northbound lanes of the highway into a restaurant for his sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner on June 11, 2009. Their car was hit by a driver coming in the other direction who didn’t see Gump’s vehicle because of traffic backed up in a southbound turning lane.
Gump-Schragl was in a coma for five weeks, has no short-term memory and relies on a walker as a result of her injuries. Her daughter’s wedding was postponed for a year due to the crash.
Mains was found guilty in 2010 of various charges related to the crash.
Mark McKenna, an attorney for Lane Construction, did not return calls for comment. Robert McDermott, a state assistant attorney general representing PennDOT, declined to comment on the verdict. He said his client settled with the family for $250,000 shortly after the jury was seated.
A spokeswoman for Lane said the company hasn’t decided whether to appeal Monday’s verdict.