CASE REPORT
(TTT 22/1) CARRIER--CTA TRAIN STRIKES INTOXICATED MAN ON TRACKS--TBI AND LEG LOSS (4)
William Gaddy, disabled v Chicago Transit Authority 20L-2809 (refiled from 16L-3963) Tried Apr. 15-26, 2024
VERDICT: Not Guilty. Special Interrogatories: Was William Gaddy’s contributory negligence more than 50% of the total proximate cause of his injury? “Yes.” Did the Chicago Transit Authority, by its train operator Ruben Santana, show an utter indif- ference or conscious disregard for the safety of William Gaddy? “No.”
Anne M. Madormo Anne came aboard the Chicago Transit Authority in 2008 as a Chief Attorney in Torts and was quickly pro- moted to Man- aging Attorney Torts in 2010. In addition to Gaddy, she previously received the Out - standing Defense Verdict award in 2022 for Avila v. CTA, a premises liability case. Her other trial successes including obtain- ing a rare, directed verdict in the personal injury case of Shelton v. CTA involving a pedestrian v. bus collision and significant arm degloving injury. Outside the trial arena, her past successes in represent - ing the CTA include bringing hundreds of claims arising from derailments, subway fires and an unmanned “ghost” train on train collision to a successful resolution via settlement.
JUDGE: Mary R. Minella (IL Cook-Law)
PLTF ATTY(S): Michael P. Cash of Liskow & Lewis (Houston, TX), Emily J. Eckert Backus of Eckert Law Group (Northbrook, IL) DEMAND : 15,000,000 DEFT ATTY(S): Anne M. Madormo, Gerald T. Donoghue of C.T.A. Law Dept. (Chicago, IL) (Self-Insured) OFFER : $100,000 PLTF EXPERT(S): William T. C. Neale of J.S. Held, 6070 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., #200, Greenwood Village, CO (303-974-4982) (Accident Reconstruction); Dr. Gary Yarkony (Rehab/Physical Medicine); Dr. Alan C. Heffner of Carolinas Medical Cen- ter, 1000 Blythe Blvd., Charlotte, NC (704-335-3165) (Critical Care); Lisa M. DeWitt, R.N., 6550 W. Gunnison, Harwood Heights, IL (312-468-8011) (Life Care Planner) DEFT EXPERT(S): Michael Dilich (Accident Reconstruction); David M. Cades, Ph.D. (Human Factors); Dr. Miledones Eliades (Rehab/Physical Medicine); Patricia Cline (Life Care Planner)Analytics Inc., 8505 Freeport Parkway, Irving, TX (972-929- 9900) (Economist)
William Gaddy, M-47, walked into the CTA Red Line train station at 35th St. while intoxicated around 12:15 am on May 20, 2015. After reaching the plat- form, Gaddy walked to the edge of the platform, stepped off the edge, and fell onto the train tracks. Gaddy quickly pulled himself back up onto the plat- form, where he remained for about ten minutes. During that time, both a north- bound and a southbound train entered and exited the station, but he did not board either train. Gaddy then walked to the edge of the platform again, stepped off, and fell onto the tracks a second time. He remained motionless on the tracks for about three minutes, after which a southbound train approached the station. The train operator testified he saw a blurred object ahead on the tracks as he entered the station, so he applied full-service brakes. The opera- tor did not realize there was a person
on the tracks until the very last seconds, at which time he applied the emergency brake. However, the train did not stop in time and Gaddy was struck. Gaddy sus- tained a traumatic brain injury, cervical spine fractures at C2-C7, traumatic C-6 spinal cord injury with quadriparesis, bi- lateral leg amputations above the knee, crushed pelvis with unstable pelvic fractures, lumbar transverse process fractures, right femur fracture, ruptured bladder, multiple broken ribs, pulmonary contusion and pneumothorax, and right scapula fractures. Gaddy is perma- nently disabled with inability to speak or communicate other than mouthing simple words or nodding, relies on a tra- cheostomy and ventilator support, has a feeding tube, and requires around- the-clock nursing care ($5,400,000 past medical expenses, $20,000,000 future medical expenses). Testing showed his blood alcohol levels were between
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2025 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 73
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