Jury Awards $552K to Widow of Man Injured in Fall

ORLAND PARK, IL -- A jury awarded $552,000 to the estate of a man who was injured in a fall an Orland Park rehabilitation facility. The lawsuit continued on the man’s behalf after he died of causes unrelated to the fall.

Michael F. Bonamarte and Carl F. Silverman, of the Chicago law firm Levin and Perconti, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Timothy Maloney, who was admitted to Alden Estates of Orland Park for rehab on Aug. 10, 2012.

According to the complaint, Maloney had been recently hospitalized for issues related to his heart at Palos Community Hospital. In addition to his heart condition, he also had diabetes and a muscle disorder called inclusion body myositis. The neuromuscular disorder causes progressive muscle weakness over time.

The condition caused Maloney to walk with his knees hyperextended. Prior to his admission to Alden Estates, his knees would occasionally buckle as a result of his condition, the law firm said in a news release.

Maloney required rehabilitation following hospitalization for his congestive heart failure because he did not have the strength to stand. He was living at Alden Estates when he received physical therapy from Community Physical Therapy and Associates, Ltd.

The complaint alleged that on Oct. 15, 2012, Maloney was attempting to ambulate when he fell and fractured his ankle during a therapy session with Community Physical Therapy and Associates. At the time of the fall, only one therapist was assigned to Maloney’s therapy session. He had surgery a few weeks ago later at Palos Community Hospital. Maloney was discharged Oct. 26, 2012, and started walking again towards the end of December.

The plan in place for Maloney was not sufficient to address Maloney’s risk factors. Had the therapists and therapy assistants bothered to take a careful history, they would have learned of Maloney’s prior falls before he started therapy on Oct. 15, 2012. With this knowledge, the attorneys contended two people would have been ambulating with Maloney, and he would not have fallen and fractured his ankle, the lawsuit claimed.

A lawsuit was filed Oct. 18, 2013 in Cook County Circuit Court. During the litigation, Maloney’s attorneys stated that the defendants offered no money to settle the case at any point during the litigation or trial. The defendants described the events of Oct. 15, 2012 were a “‘slow lowering to the ground’ rather than a fall and that the fracture was a pathologic or spontaneous fracture caused by the patient’s fragile bones rather than any trauma experienced during the fall.”

Maloney died at age 68 before the case was settled. The litigation was continued on his widow Donna’s behalf. Donna Maloney was awarded $552,000 during a jury trial on Feb. 2.

Correction: The jury found Community Physical Therapy and Associates liable for Mr. Maloney's injuries, not Alden Estates of Orland Park and its associates as originally stated. Patch regrets the error.