A Monmouth County jury returned a $17.6 million verdict to a man left disabled following a multivehicle crash involving an 18-wheeler whose driver was under the influence of prescription and nonprescription drugs.
The verdict includes $6.5 million in compensatory damages and $11.15 million in punitives. It follows a separate, $6.85 million settlement in 2021 on behalf of another driver who was killed in the same crash.
The compensatory damages verdict was returned on Nov. 3, and the punitive damages verdict on Nov. 9, following a trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Sheedy.
The crash occurred on Sept. 6, 2017, when plaintiff John Fiore was driving west on Route 440 in Perth Amboy, said his attorney, Donald Lomurro of Lomurro, Munson, Comer, Brown & Schottland in Freehold. Traffic was backed up due to construction, reducing three travel lanes to two, and the 18-wheeler failed to stop for traffic, hitting the rear end of a vehicle driven by Jason Appio, Lomurro said.
Appio’s vehicle, in turn, struck Fiore’s vehicle, which then ran into a pole, and the truck also struck two other cars, Lomurro said.
Fiore was a heavy-equipment operator but was unable to return to his job after the crash, Lomurro said. He sustained a torn meniscus in his left knee, torn cartilage of the left hip, a herniated disc, and a fracture to the left hand that did not heal properly, Lomurro said.
During trial, the jury was told how Fiore worked at the wreckage of the World Trade Center to recover bodies after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Lomurro said.
The truck was owned by Highlight Motor Freight of Concord, Ontario, and driven by that company’s employee, Aleksandr Isserovich of Brooklyn. Isserovich was given a drug test that showed he was using marijuana, as well as Nordazepam, Clonazepam, 7-Aminoclonazepam and Alprazolam in amounts greater than prescribed, which made him drowsy, according to Lomurro.
According to court documents, Isserovich attempted suicide in 2013 and in 2017, and his wife committed suicide in 2015. Isserovich testified that he began using opiates following another motor vehicle accident in 2010, and that he was prescribed various drugs for anxiety and depression. He testified that on the night before the crash, he had difficulty sleeping and took Xanax, according to court documents. On the day of the crash, he felt sleepy, documents said.
Isserovich pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular homicide and three counts of assault by auto, and was sentenced to seven years in prison, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Appio, the occupant of the first vehicle hit by the truck, was killed. Appio’s estate, represented by Daryl Zaslow of Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow in Edison, settled its suit against Highlight and Isserovich for $6.85 million in April 2021.
In Fiore’s case, counsel for Highlight and Isserovich stipulated to liability but disputed the severity of Fiore’s injuries, according to Lomurro, who tried the case along with his firm’s Jonathan Lomurro and Matthew Schiappa.
Highlight and Isserovich had representation in the compensatory phase of trial by Colin Hackett of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith in Newark. In the punitive damages phase, they were represented by Michael Chong of the Law Offices of Michael K. Chong in Fort Lee.
Hackett declined to comment on the case. Chong didn’t respond to a call seeking comment.
To convince the jury to award punitive damages, counsel for Fiore argued that the employer was negligent in hiring and retaining Isserovich, Lomurro said.
“There were a lot of red flags that they should have been aware of. And they included the fact that they ultimately discovered he lied on his application for employment, but they took no adverse action. We said that [the company] acted willfully and wantonly in derogation of my client’s rights by hiring and retaining him. That took a $6.5 million case to a $17.5 million case,” Lomurro said.
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