A jury has awarded $9 million — $13 million with interest — to a man who was injured at a Connecticut water park.
Charles Beyer, 46, of Washingtonville, N.Y., had his leg ripped open by a chain that anchored a four-foot-wide lily pad in a quarry pool at the Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park in Portland in August 2016, according to his lawsuit against the park.
Attorney Kenneth Bartlett of Madison, who originally took the case, said the CEO of Brownstone, bought the lily pads from the defunct CoCo Key Water Resort in Waterbury for $300.
Each one is anchored to the bottom of the pool by a 48-inch chain, Bartlett said.
“So he throws them in, late June of 2016, and the reason why that’s important, this accident happens five weeks later,” Bartlett said. “And so I take (his) deposition, and I said … do you know … who even manufactured them? Answer: No, I did not. And the reason why that’s important is because, therefore he didn’t know the manufacturer’s requirements for installing these things.”
Bartlett said the chains were supposed to have a thick plastic sheath around them. “You certainly have to have a plastic sheath on the chain because if you come into contact with the chain or the carabinier is open, you can really get hurt,” he said.
Beyer cut his left foot and ankle on a carabinier, Bartlett said. The lawsuit claims he suffered from nerve damage, extensive scarring, infection, swelling, extensive scarring and severe shock to his nervous system.
“The treating doctor said he had complex regional pain syndrome, and it’s going to get worse over time,” Bartlett said. “They admitted there was permanent injury. They admitted there was pain morning, noon and night.”
Bartlett said he believed the jury came back with such a large award “because they appreciate the severity of the injury. Mr. Beyer was very likable, meaning he was honest. He went right back to work. There was no claim of loss of wages here despite having this awful, awful injury.”
Beyer is a jet mechanic and he and his wife ran half marathons, Bartlett said.
Andrew Garza of Connecticut Trial Firm , who tried the case with colleague Alexa Mahony, said he warned Brownstone’s insurance company the jury might come in with a high verdict, but the insurer refused to settle.
“I was trying to tell the insurance company that they didn’t have enough insurance and we were willing to take what they had left, which was ($750,000), to protect Brownstone,” Garza said. “And they wouldn’t do it. They just said, OK, well, we’re going to try the case.”
Garza said his firm held focus groups so he expected the $9 million verdict. “It is a large verdict, but it was not surprising to us, considering what we knew the client had been through … and I think the jury properly valued him,” he said.
“Our jury could not have been more analytical,” Garza said. “We told them we were not looking for sympathy. My client was looking for justice. … All I can say is, if you heard the evidence in this case, you could not pay me $9 million to trade places with my client.”
Garza said Brownstone had a $1 million insurance policy but the insurer offered only $350,000 to settle the case. He said now the insurance company will have to deal with the verdict.
“One question some folks might have in this case is what (is the) impact on Brownstone?” Garza said. “The bottom line is, I think the insurance company here has a problem, because they have an obligation to protect their insured. … We told them two months ago, hey, look, based on the work we’ve done, we think it’s probable that a jury is going to come back with a multiple million dollar verdict.”
He said he expects Brownstone will continue to operate.
“It is our intention to pursue the insurance company for a negligent-failure-to-settle claim on behalf of Brownstone,” Garza said. “So it’s my expectation that Brownstone continues to operate for the season. And the parties will resolve this between themselves.”
A request for comment was sent to Christopher M. Vossler and Rachel Bradford of Howd & Ludorf of Wethersfield, who represented Brownstone in the case. They did not respond.
Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com .
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