New York Undergraduate Assaulted by Bouncer at Bar Receives Large Jury Verdict

A 20-year-old undergraduate who had recently moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sustained a severely fractured ankle, requiring the insertion of a plate and screws, and other injuries after being beaten by a bouncer in a local bar. The injury prevented our client from working for seven and a half months.

At first, the bar defended the case by stating that the bouncer was not on its payroll and therefore was not an employee. They stated that the bouncer was simply a patron acting on his own. The bar also defended the actions of one of the bartenders by calling four witnesses to testify that the plaintiff (our client) was rowdy and confrontational.

Lundy Law called witnesses who testified that even though the bouncer was not an “official employee” of the bar, he had acted in that capacity many times before. Lundy Law also presented testimony that the attack was unprovoked.

Before and during the trial, the bar attempted to settle the case for a small amount. Our client, in consultation with Lundy Law, refused the offers. At the end of the week-long trial, the jury returned a verdict that was four times higher than the bar’s settlement offer.