Injured Woman To Get $385K In Settlement With West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Town officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against West Hartford by a Massachusetts woman badly hurt from a fall in 2019, to the tune of $385,000.

The West Hartford Town Council voted 9-0 at a special meeting March 8 to settle the suit with Swampscot, Mass.,-resident Ann F. Klayman rather than go to a civil trial in May.

Klayman filed suit against the Town of West Hartford in October 2020, a year and a bit more than six months after being severely injured falling on a town sidewalk in April 2019.

According to the lawsuit, on April 13, 2019, Klayman and another woman were walking on a sidewalk on LaSalle Road, nearly 10 feet from the curb line.

That is when "suddenly and without warning, she was caused to loser her balance and fall due to uneven paving stones on said sidewalk, which created an uneven walking surface, thus causing severe and substantial injuries and losses to the plaintiff ...," reads the lawsuit.

According to court documents, Klayman suffered several broken bones, including a fractured pelvis, that required several months of rehabilitation, pain, suffering, mental distress and confinement to her bed and home.

The lawsuit states Klayman suffered significant financial hardship due to nursing, hospitalization, therapy, nursing and medications associated with her ordeal.

She said the town was responsible for the sidewalk and it failed to warn pedestrians of the uneven stones or fix them when it was apparent.

Klayman's lawsuit worked its way through Hartford Superior Court's civil court from Oct. 28, 2020 with various filings, motions and notices.

It was slated to go to a trial on May 25 of this year, according to the Connecticut Judicial District's website.

On March 8, the West Hartford council voted to avoid that and settle the case.

According to the resolution, the town's insurance provider will fund the $385,000 settlement, but West Hartford must pay the insurance company $237,287 from its risk management fund.

The vote to settle came after about a 30-minute closed session to discuss legal strategies.

After coming out into open session, no council members offered any statements about the settlement prior to the vote.

West Hartford Corporation Counsel Dallas Dodge said settling the case was not a guilty admission on the part of the town.

"This resolution settles a sidewalk defect case that was filed against the town in 2020," Dodge said just prior to the council's voice vote.

"Out of respect for the proposed settlement agreement, I won't discuss the details of the case, except to say that, as always, the settlement does not represent an acknowledgement of fault or liability by the town."

For the minutes of the March 8 West Hartford Town Council meeting and the settlement resolution, click on this link.

For all court documents related to the case, click on this link.