Opinion ID: 1716491
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Are the Damages Excessive?

Text: Kroger attacks the jury's award of $5,000 to Mrs. Karis for her injury as being excessive. At the time of the accident Mrs. Karis was an attractive young woman twenty-nine years of age. The metal edge of the door struck a vertical blow to her right forehead inflicting a cut just above the eyebrow of nearly an inch in length and a quarter inch deep. Her wound was first dressed at the Milwaukee County Hospital. She was then taken to another hospital where Dr. Casey, a plastic surgeon, operated on her as an outpatient for about forty minutes and then sutured the wound. During the first three weeks following the accident she had severe pain, had difficulty sleeping, and consumed from eight to 10 aspirins per day. The headaches continued for many months, and when severe were accompanied by nausea and vomiting. In January, 1962, Dr. Docktor, another plastic surgeon, performed another operation on her forehead. This consisted of sanding or abrasing the outer layer of skin from her forehead around the wound scar, so that the skin would grow back evenly and the scar would not be as noticeable. The removed portion of the skin measured about three inches wide and an inch and a half high. Because she continued to suffer from headaches, she consulted Dr. Schaeffer, a nerve specialist, in June, 1963, and he treated her five times between then and trial in December. He testified that it was his medical opinion Mrs. Karis had suffered a cerebral concussion as well as an injury to the right supraorbital nerve from the accident, and that as a result she was left with symptoms referred to as a postconcussion syndrome. These symptoms are manifested chiefly by headaches and a feeling of dizziness. There is also testimony that the area of the dermabrasion performed on the forehead by Dr. Docktor in both cold and hot weather gets redder than the remaining skin area of the forehead. The wound scar which is about one-half inch long has a whiteish color. In winter Mrs. Karis experiences a burning feeling in the wound area and at other times an itching sensation. During the thirty-month period between the accident and date of trial Mrs. Karis consumed five 250-tablet bottles of aspirin because of her headaches. Our review of the evidence causes us to conclude that while the $5,000 damages awarded by the jury are high, we are not inclined to hold them to be excessive. We are particularly reluctant to disturb a jury's finding of damages for personal injuries as being excessive where, as here, they have received the approval of the trial judge. By the Court. Judgment affirmed. HALLOWS, J. ( dissenting ). I dissent on the ground the plaintiff's attempt to exit from an In door was at least as negligent as the defendant's failure to make an adequate inspection which would have revealed the five or six-inch strip of the treadle mat did not function.