Stark & Stark Shareholder Bruce H. Stern Receives $1.3 Million Judgement in Proof Hearing

Stark & Stark is proud to announce that Shareholder Bruce H. Stern has received a $1.3 million judgement for a client who sustained a traumatic brain injury. In March of 2015, Mr. Stern’s client was working for a construction company hired to build a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) room for the Oradell Animal Hospital in Paramus, NJ. The animal hospital hired Advanced Veterinary Technologies (AVT) to decommission the old MRI machine. MRI machines are filled with freon, a type of gas used as a refrigerant. It’s extremely cold and needed to be drained out of the machine before decommissioning. Mr. Stern’s client went into the room to do some unrelated work while the technician for AVT was working on the MRI machine. The AVT employee thought he had removed all the gas, but he didn’t, which caused the MRI machine to explode.

The explosion left Mr. Sterns client with a traumatic brain injury, including problems with balance, attention, concentration, and short-term memory. As one can imagine, this type of injury can significantly affect an individual’s daily life. For example, one day Mr. Stern’s client was raking leaves while using a leaf blower when he suddenly felt this overload in visual sensation, which drained his energy. Mr. Stern’s client will face this kind of fatigue for the rest of his life.

In June 2021, the Court conducted a proof hearing, where Mr. Stern submitted evidence, including a liability experts report, medical records, and medical reports. Mr. Stern’s clients also testified. The judge awarded them $1.3 million.

“This judgement has been six years in the making, and I’m happy with the result,” Bruce stated. “Traumatic brain injury cases can take time and patience for everyone involved.”

Bruce H. Stern is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney as certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. He is also a member of the firms Accident & Personal Injury practice, where he specializes his practice in representing the victims of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, wrongful death, and construction site injuries. He is a past president of both the American Association of Justice, and the New Jersey Association of New Jersey. He currently serves as treasurer of both the International Brain Injury Association and the North American Brain Injury Society.