Staten Island Ferry Accident
The city of New York was required to pay James McMillan a $18.3 million award in the aftermath of the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash which left Mr. McMillan paralyzed in all four limbs. The payout is one of the highest the city has ever seen for a personal injury case, and so far New York has paid out over $72 million for the accident. So far 130 victims of the accident have settled out of court and 40 are still waiting to go to trial.
After the crash, the city had argued that its total liability should be limited to $14 million under a 19th-century maritime law, but a federal judge rejected the cap last year. The highest payout from the crash until Wednesday had been $9 million for a woman who lost both legs.
But Mr. McMillan, who lost use of his arms and legs, was the passenger who was hurt the worst in the crash and was likely to recover the most money — in lawsuits, catastrophic injuries typically result in higher judgments than deaths. Personal injury lawyers said they did not expect a raft of eight-figure judgments to follow. The pending cases include 4 of the 11 deaths.
New York City has not faired well as of recently when it comes to lawsuits against it. The ferry accident, however, was one of the biggest accidents in the city’s history.
The judgment comes as the city faces suits over numerous high-profile accidents, including crane collapses, steam-pipe explosions and the Sean Bell shooting. The city has set aside $658 million for this fiscal year for payouts in suits against it, down half a percent from fiscal year 2008 but up 17 percent from 2007, according to the Independent Budget Office.
The crash of the ferry Andrew J. Barberi into the dock at Staten Island on Oct. 15, 2003, with about 1,500 passengers aboard, was one of the worst transportation disasters in the city’s history. The side of the boat was ripped open by a concrete and wood pier and dozens, trapping or partly crushing dozens of people, after the assistant captain operating it blacked out at the wheel.
The city was held responsible for the accident because there was a breach of protocol in the wheelhouse of the ferry: two captains are supposed to be present at all times and at the time of the accident only one was. Two men being held responsible for the accident are serving prison time after pleading guilty to negligent manslaughter.
