Injured construction worker recovers $145,000 
Thirty-year-old Matthew Pauk of Leslie sued co-worker Terrell Freeman and employer Tom Carron Construction Inc. in St. Louis Circuit Court after a van Freeman parked at the top of a slope near the intersection of Skinker and Forsyth boulevards rolled backward, crushing Pauk’s left arm against a dump trailer he was trying to hitch to the van.
Suit against lender backfires 
In 2007, Citizens Bank agreed to lend up to $7.95 million to a company called Smithville 169 to develop a piece of land near the intersection of U.S. Highway 169 and Missouri Highway 92. The bank ultimately disbursed about $7.3 million.
Painter wins harassment complaint against her union 
Lesa Dalton alleged that Joseph M. Barrett repeatedly propositioned her for sex and made lewd comments to and about her.
Woman scalded in shower settles with apartment owner 
Anne Barth suffered severe burns to approximately 40 percent of her body and was hospitalized for nearly two months while she underwent multiple skin graft surgeries.
Family of man killed on I-55 settles insurance claim 
Clarence Davis Jr. and Melissa Webb sued 55-year-old Shirley Ann Hayes of Desoto after her 2009 Pontiac Torrent struck Clarence Davis Sr., 57, on I-55 near Park Avenue the morning of Feb. 6, 2012.
Injured motorist umbrella claim nets $925,000 settlement 
An injured motorist nearly doubled an insurance policy’s offered maximum coverage at mediation. Her attorneys successfully made the case that the driver who hit her was covered by an additional umbrella policy.
Jury sides with lumber company in trip-and-fall 
Charles Driskell sued Sutherland Lumber Company of Kansas City, and a Jackson County Circuit Court at Independence jury assessed the plaintiff with 100 percent fault, according to the judgment.
Pedestrian recovers from driver’s and his own insurers 
The victim was able to collect $100,000 from the driver’s insurer, American Family Insurance Company, and $55,000 under his own underinsured motorist coverage through State Farm Insurance Company.
Gas station settles after 23 violent crimes in two years 
Kansas City woman who was robbed at gunpoint by five men outside a gas station received a $40,000 pretrial settlement of a premises liability claim against the owner of the business.
Lawmaker’s carwash not held responsible for woman’s death 
A carwash owned by Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City and his wife won’t have to pay damages to the family of a 40-year-old woman killed at the business by an errant driver.
Neurosurgeon’s fall not hospital’s fault, jury says again 
A jury has once again ruled that a hospital was not responsible for a doctor’s career-ending injury, upholding what had been the largest defense verdict in the state in 2010 until a state appeals court reversed it.

