Case results

A state Supreme Court jury awarded $2.1 million to a Rochester woman who was permanently disabled when her car was rear-ended by a truck. Jurors made the award to the victim who suffered severe back injuries. She was waiting at the traffic signal when her car was hit by a 14-ton truck owned by Rochester Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

The victim, who was a full-time food service worker at Rochester Psychiatric Center and also worked part-time at a day-care center, has had two extensive back surgeries to relieve pain, said her lawyer, Dennis Herron.

Several Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. retirees or their estates have received a settlement exceeding $2 million for asbestos exposure that caused death and disease. The retirees and the estates of workers who died settled a consolidated lawsuit in State Supreme Court, said their lawyer Dennis P. Herron.

“These cases are unusual because of all of these gentlemen were exposed to asbestos in the 1960’s and 1970’s and it took over 30 years for their illnesses to develop,”… Said Dennis Herron who represented the families.

A group of 18 manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of asbestos will pay $1.25 million to settle claims of a plant worker who was exposed to the substance while working at Eastman Kodak Co. The companies, whose names were sealed as part of the settlement, paid $1.25 Million to the family of the victim. The plaintiff died of mesothelioma. Dennis Herron represented the family.

Dennis Herron Esq. was also able to obtain Workers Compensation to the widow for the rest of her life.

While the case was on appeal to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, a construction site accident arising out of a new home built in the Town of Greece settled in State Supreme Court for more than $1 million dollars.

The victim fell while working on a new home construction site in the Town of Greece. The victim was an insulator by trade. Dennis P. Herron represented the plaintiff in this case.

Herron said the award will never erase the pain and suffering that the victim and his family have endured, but is pleased to not that they are happy with the results.

“This case is unusual because the victim was working on a ladder on a home construction site where he was not provided proper safety equipment”, Herron said. “General contractors in the State of New York can be held responsible for any injury sustained to individuals who fall from heights on construction projects.”

Herron went on to say that the victim suffered an injury to his left arm and shoulder as a result of the fall.

Girl, 12, injured by exposure in rental property granted $545,000
A local child has been awarded a settlement worth more than a half-million dollars for lead-paint poisoning injuries she sustained in a city rental property nearly 10 years ago. The child, now 12, was poisoned in 1995 when she ingested lead dust in a Rochester home, according to her family’s attorney, Dennis Herron. Neither her name nor the landlord’s are being released, a condition of a confidentiality agreement required by the landlord’s insurance company. According to the attorneys, a Monroe County Health Department inspection found the housing unsuitable for the family. The child was forced to undergo treatment in the hospital and has since been found to have a low attention span, impaired intelligence and behavioral problems, the attorneys said. “She’s been behind in (school) and required extra tutoring and attention,” Herron said. The family brought a claim against the landlord. It was settled last week for $545,000. The award may be the largest made in Rochester in a lead-paint lawsuit, said Herron, adding that his firm, Dennis Herron and Associates, is actively investigating 200 similar claims.

Press Release – First Plaintiff Jury Verdict in WNY Lead Poisoning Case-Revised for Dennis

A 23-year-old Rochester woman, left with a learning disability after being exposed to lead as a child, will receive some compensation for her injuries. A jury Wednesday awarded Ashley Hicks $221,000 for economic loss from the neurological effects that lead poisoning will have on her capacity for future earnings.

Ashley Hicks is first to win lead poisoning lawsuit in Monroe County

“What you find, at least here in Rochester, it’s not one landlord poisoning one child, one time,” Herron said, echoing others who say landlords, by and large, correct problems as they arise. “It’s professional landlords with multiple properties, multiple violations, multiple families.”

“Have we had cases that have gone in excess of seven figures? Absolutely,” Herron said. “You are talking about a brain-damaged child.

“It is not meant to be a windfall, where they never have to work another day in their lives. It is meant for them to catch up.”