An Española man was paid $150,000 to settle a lawsuit stemming from a 2006 incident in which he was injured after tumbling into a large trash bin at the North Central Solid Waste Authority transfer station in Española.
Colorado Casualty Insurance Company, who sells liability insurance to the Authority, agreed June 18 to pay Joe Martinez and his wife, Mary Ann Martinez, to drop the suit, according to an agreement released by the Authority’s Albuquerque-based attorney Ned Shepherd.
“We had to acknowledge that Mr. Martinez suffered pretty serious injuries,” Shepherd said.
Joe Martinez, who was 68 years old at the time of the incident, shattered his femur and suffered a shoulder injury March 3, 2006, after falling into the 15-foot deep container while he was unloading tree branches from his truck. He was stuck in the bin for more than an hour before emergency crews were able to extricate him.
As a part of the agreement, the Martinez family and their Albuquerque-based attorney, Brady Pofahl, agreed not to speak about details of the settlement.
Rio Arriba County, the city of Española and the Board of County Commissioners were also listed as defendants in the case. The Authority’s insurance paid $147,000 of the settlement, and the City and County together covered the remaining $3,000, Authority Manager Joe Lewandowski said.
The Martinez couple sought compensation for injuries, losses, costs, punitive damages, loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium and loss of household services.
The lawsuit alleged negligence on the part of the Authority, stating Joe Martinez was directed by an Authority employee to back his truck to near the edge of the bin before tossing the branches. There was no rail or other barrier to keep dumpers or their vehicles from getting too close to the edge of the bin.
Lewandowski said he didn’t believe the Authority had been negligent, but he said the incident immediately triggered a rule change at the transfer station: only Authority employees are allowed to dump waste directly into the bin. There is still no rail along the edge, but dumpers are instructed to leave their waste on a concrete pad for employees to throw in, he said.
Lewandowski said the settlement shouldn’t seriously affect the finances of the Authority, which is struggling with huge debt, including nearly $200,000 owed to the city and close to $400,000 it owes to vendors. He said the insurance covered the whole cost of the settlement, and the Authority’s insurance rates shouldn’t raise too much because of the incident.
“We’ve only had one (lawsuit) in five years,” he said.