January, 2005; Ellie Cotton v. "Acme Petroleum" Corporation Six Figure Confidential Settlement Amount

Sevastianos mediated and settled a large personal injury claim for Ms. Ellie Cotton, another wonderful client. Ms. Cotton was badly beaten at a local station of a multi-national gasoline distributor, while standing in line and waiting to pay for her purchases. The initial investigation of the claim revealed that several similar events, including assaults and other violent criminal activity, occurred on the property for years before the incident in question. In fact, there had been at least six similar incidents in as many months on the property and the owner was well aware of these problems. Despite that knowledge, the owner took no action at all to provide security for its customers; however, it installed bullet proof glass at the cashier's window and left specific directions to its employees that they never leave the booth to assist customers when there is trouble on site.

The attack was particularly brutal and prolonged. About twelve calls were made to 911, but only two of them came from the defendant's employees at the station. At the time of the incident, Ms. Cotton was a 42 year old mother of three, who always held two full time jobs, was left with head injuries and cognitive deficits that preclude her from working ever again. Sevastianos' expert determined that over the rest of her working life, she would suffer wage losses in an amount of approximately $850,000.

Ms. Cotton's case was settled at mediation with her express authority. The amount of the settlement is confidential, as is the name of the corporate defendant.