Insurance Settlement Gives Man $1.3M

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

June 14, 2000
By Marie Szaniszlo

MONTICELLO — A 39-year old Mountaindale man will receive more than $1 million under a last-minute settlement reached yesterday while a jury deliberated in Sullivan County Supreme Court.

New York Central Mutual agreed to pay Steve Gallo $1.3 million for complications stemming from hand surgery he underwent in October 1998, 17 months after his car was hit from behind on County Road 56 in Wurtsboro.

The driver of the car that rear-ended his, Richard Parlow, was never charged criminally. But Gallo and his Newburgh attorney, Elliot Tetenbaum, sued for $2 million, saying the surgery Gallo underwent as a result of the accident damaged the nerves in his hand.

Parlow’s insurer initially chose not to settle out of court, arguing that some other trauma caused the nerve damage. Then, earlier this month, New York Central Mutual offered to pay Gallo $100,000, an offer he rejected.

The company upped the price to $1.3 million yesterday after five hours of jury deliberations and a week of testimony. Bert Eisenberg, the insurer’s Liberty attorney, could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Gallo, a service manager at Rea Ford in Monticello, said he’ll use the money to pay for medical expenses and his kids’ education.

* Reprinted with permission of The Times Herald-Record