On March 1, 2010, Raul Marquez sustained injuries to his knees and back when he fell from an A-frame ladder in a construction incident while painting crown molding in a common hallway of the 62 unit cooperative apartment building at 171 West 79th Street in Manhattan.
Mr. Marquez, then 33 years old, was employed as
Defendants routinely and successfully argue in back and neck injury cases that plaintiff’s injuries pre-existed an accident and no pain and suffering damages should be awarded (even if defendant is found to have caused the new accident). There’s merit to the argument but it’s not as simple as I’ve implied.
Under New York law, a