City Pays $ 1,125,000 To Settle Wrongful Death Action Alleging Paramedics Failed To Adequately Respond To Call For Emergency Assistance
On Jan. 31, 2011, City of Columbus paramedics were called to provide emergency assistance to Sonia A. Bray, who was in cardiac distress. Ms. Bray had been undergoing an MRI when she vomited and began to cough, turning blue in the face and suffering chest pains. Witnesses claimed that the paramedics failed to provide adequate assistance; three of them had been standing by discussing what they were fixing for dinner that night while Ms. Bray was in distress. They eventually loaded her into an ambulance, where Ms. Bray coded and CPR was initiated. She, however, sustained a brain injury from which she could not recover, life support was withdrawn, and she died on Feb. 2, 2011.
A wrongful death action was filed on Dec. 12, 2012, by Holly Herron, as the Executor of the Estate of Sonia A. Bray, against the City of Columbus, the individual paramedics, and others in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County. Summary judgment was granted for defendants on immunity grounds on Dec. 1, 2014, but that decision was reversed on appeal. On June 2, 2016, Ms. Herron signed a release and agreement to settle her claims in exchange for the payment of $1,125,000. According to a press release filed by plaintiff’s firm, Leeseberg & Valentine, the settlement was one of the largest payout in the City's history, exceeding a prior record payment of $1 million. That payment was also obtained by Leeseberg & Valentine, in the case of Wagner v. City of Columbus, on behalf of a young boy electrocuted by a defective lamp post on one of the City's bridges.
Plaintiff was represented by Gerald S. Leeseberg of Leeseberg & Valentine. Defendants were represented by Bradley Hummel of City of Columbus Attorney's Office. Lexis Advance subscribers can view the full summary at Holly Herron, as the Executor of the Estate of Sonia A. Bray v. City of Columbus, et al; 2016 Jury Verdicts LEXIS 4645.