Bair v. Breneman's Landscaping $4.6 Million Settlement
Jun 22, 2015OUTCOME: $4.6 million dollar settlement
A man who suffered a traumatic brain injury while working as a landscaper has agreed to a $4.6 million settlement to cover his ongoing care. According to court papers in Bair v. Breneman's Landscaping ... , in September 2009, 21-year-old Dustin Bair was struck in a hit-and-run car accident while working for Breneman's Ladnscaping. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, which included bilateral parietal, left occipital and left frontotemporal subdural hematomas and contusions. He also sustained a C6-7 injury, fractures of five vertebrae and a pneumothorax. He also suffered respiratory failure, multiple facial fractures and left scapular fractures. Bair was treated at Reading Hospital, where he underwent multiple craniotomies. He was subsequently transferred to McGee Rehabilitation Hospital for management of his brain injury. According to Bair's mediation memo, the injuries resulted in cognitive deficits that impaired Bair's speech, memory and attention. The memo said he also needed to be supervised and helped with his regular activities of daily living. Bair had received some recovery under an uninsured motorist policy, court papers said. Bair was placed at a day program run by Acadia at a rate of $475 a day. Breneman's Landscaping agreed to cover the treatment for several months, but stopped payments, and Bair was subsequently sent to live with his 70-year-old foster mother. According to Bair's memo, a workers' compensation judge found that Breneman's Landscaping violated the Workers' Compensation Act by stopping Bair's treatment at Acadia. The judge awarded an $18,356 penalty, which was appealed, the memo said. The judge also found the $475 rate excessive, and said that it should instead be $320.34. Acadia offered to take Bair back at the reduced rate, but Breneman's Landscaping refused to authorize the treatment, Bair's memo said. After an incident where Bair tried to attack his foster mother with a knife, she put him back in the Acadia program at the reduced rate, Bair's memo said. The facility billed Breneman's workers' compensation carrier, but the defendant refused to pay the Acadia bills, Bair's memo said. Bair then filed a prospective utilization review petition requesting long-term residential placement, which would be at a rate of $663 per day, the memo said. According to the memo, Bair has a life expectancy of 50 years, and has $25,000 in unpaid medical bills. The memo contended that if he were to remain in Acadia's program for the rest of his life, it would cost $4.2 million. According to court papers, Breneman's Landscaping contended that the rates were excessive and did not adhere to the workers' compensation fee schedule, that the workers' compensation judge erred by awarding a penalty and that Bair can be put into a nursing home facility for $100 a day. The defendant also argued that Acadia stopped treating Bair because it wanted to be paid more money than the carrier was required to pay, and that Bair was not as debilitated as he claimed. According to the compromise and release agreement, $4.1 million of the total settlement will be for annuity premiums.
