July 2, 2013

"House painter gets $58M after vicious bar beating leaves him without half a skull."

"Antonio Lopez Chaj appeared at a news conference Monday... When he took off a baseball cap hiding his injuries, gasps could be heard from people present."

Click to see what they saw.

39 comments:

Sam L. said...

They owe him that.

traditionalguy said...

After Insurance pays policy limits, the rest of the Judgement is probably worthless paper.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

If they'd done that to me I'd have half a mind to sue them too.

chickelit said...

Suppose the company doesn't have $58M. Who pays then?

YoungHegelian said...

The security guard, Emerson Quintanilla, and the bartender-manager who sparked the attack have disappeared without a trace, Sayre said.

For "disappeared without a trace" read "have gone back to Mexico".

Want to place bets on this not being the first time that ole' Emerson has gone bat-ship insane while "security-guarding" someone, either here in El Norte or south of the border?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Click to see what they saw.

Click to honor it...

I exaggerate.

Gahrie said...

OK, for the record, if I ever get that fucked up.....

Let me go.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Who pays then?

They write it off

MadisonMan said...

Lawyerly Payday!

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Lawyers said an unlicensed, untrained security guard beat Chaj with a baton, kicked him in the head eight times and smashed his skull against pavement four times.

George Zimmerman could be reach for comment, because he was prepared to defend himself.

SteveR said...

Having lost have his skull, is he now entitled to practice self defense?

traditionalguy said...

You can be sure that the Ins carrier offered policy limits to avoid an excess liability suit from the insureds. That means the Plaintiff's lawyers went ahead to get publicity in a trial that was really for setting damages.

There may be a hope of piercing a Corporate veil and finding some rich owner guys stash or just threatening to and getting bought off for settlement.

madAsHell said...

An unlicensed, untrained security guard remove half his brain?? Just wait for Obamacare!!

Methadras said...

It's a symbolic judgment. Insurance will go to court to mitigate damages and pay as little as possible. The company will be liquidated to pay for the remainder. So are there any criminal charges against the gorilla that did this to him?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I think Mr. Chaj is doing just great but I've always been a half full kind of guy.

edutcher said...

Forget the money.

An hour alone with the guy what done it shackled.

With a pair of pliers.

Nonapod said...

What happened to the guy is horrible, but 58 million?! Really? I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. He should have been awarded 3 million tops.

Our society is way too litigious and it costs everyone in the long run.

MadisonMan said...

I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. He should have been awarded 3 million tops.

The man needs 24-hour care. If he lives 30 more years, 3 million is going to run out way too soon -- that's just $100K annually. 24-hour care requires 3 nurses, at minimum. You do the math.

Jane the Actuary said...

I find it hard to believe they could have really argued for $58 million on the basis of actual damages (personal care + lost wages) alone, so this must have been punitive damages (or a really reckless jury adding extra cash for the "ick" factor). Were they arguing that the security company failed to perform a background check, or that this guy had lost his temper at work before?
If this guy was a monster but there was no legitimate way the company could have possible known, then it feels very wrong to put the company out of business for something like this.

cubanbob said...

The perps escaped and haven't been found. Safe bet they were illegals and are probably back where they came from. As for the payment unless the insurance company made some mistakes the policy limit is what they will collect and as for the company whatever it's net value after liquidation is what will be available for the plaintiff after the senior creditors are settled.

FedkaTheConvict said...

The perps escaped and haven't been found. Safe bet they were illegals and are probably back where they came from.

They still qualify for amnesty.

Jane the Actuary said...

If the security guard really was illegal, then I suppose the company could have been accused of hiring under the table or knowingly accepting the man's false ID?

chickelit said...

The man needs 24-hour care. If he lives 30 more years, 3 million is going to run out way too soon -- that's just $100K annually. 24-hour care requires 3 nurses, at minimum. You do the math.

OK. Suppose he does live 30 more years. $53M comes out to $1.9M per year which seems excessive. What's especially galling is that the perps who did this get off free and clear. The $53M comes out of anybody's pocket who used that insurance company or the insurance company's insurance company.

What's the message here? Don't hire lunatics? If the guy was illegal, how the hell are you supposed to do a background check on a guy when the prevailing culture is that you don't question people's legality?

ndspinelli said...

El Pollo, He'll get whatever the policy limits were @ the time.

Billy Oblivion said...

The security guard, Emerson Quintanilla, and the bartender-manager who sparked the attack have disappeared without a trace, Sayre said.

Tell me again why we need amnesty?

Unknown said...

With that money he can buy a new head,

Unknown said...

With that money he can buy a new head,

Scott said...

Brass knuckles are nasty.

Anonymous said...

El Pollo Raylan said...
The man needs 24-hour care. If he lives 30 more years, 3 million is going to run out way too soon -- that's just $100K annually. 24-hour care requires 3 nurses, at minimum. You do the math.


24/7 takes 5 staff when u facor in holidays and vacation

Alex said...

I guess George Z had to wait until his skull was caved in before using deadly force. Oh wait...

Alex said...

An hour alone with the guy what done it shackled.

With a pair of pliers.


and a rusty saw.

Methadras said...

The Drill SGT said...

El Pollo Raylan said...
The man needs 24-hour care. If he lives 30 more years, 3 million is going to run out way too soon -- that's just $100K annually. 24-hour care requires 3 nurses, at minimum. You do the math.


24/7 takes 5 staff when u facor in holidays and vacation


They should hire Nurse Inga. She's cheap, a fellow traveller, and she can suck up to Chaves' son whenever he comes around to check on his friend. Oh, she would love that. Nibbles.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

So banging this guy's head against the concrete and other beatings around the head cause horrific brain damage and he gets awarded 58M

While......unless Zimmerman can show that he was hurt bad "enough" from almost similar treatment he can't possibly be justified in stopping Martin before he (Zimmerman) also ended up with half a head?

I guess you can't defend yourself until you have lost half of your brain and been permanently harmed.

Logic?

The Crack Emcee said...

My best friend, Dimitri (now deceased) got that same look from playing football with the guys:

Got tackled - head went into one of those old metal sprinklers.

He would've been glad to know what it's worth,...

ndspinelli said...

El Pollo, I worked for an insurance company that insured private security companies. And these bar incidents are the highest liability, along w/ concerts and sporting events..anywhere liquor is involved. The highest limits I ever saw was $10 million. Now, this is Wi. But, assuming this is a righteous company in NYC, I still doubt they have more than $25 million in limits, most likely much less.

MarkD said...

Somebody needs to win the Powerball and the Lotto, stat. Might as well be 580 million for all he will collect.

jr565 said...

The guy who did that must have been a republican.

jr565 said...

Ignorance is bliss wrote:
"George Zimmerman could be reach for comment, because he was prepared to defend himself."

Althouse earlier asked at what point you could officially defend yourself. Clearly, since this guy didn't actually die, he couldn't have defended himself if he had a gun since his life wasn't actually in jeopardy.
Having your skull caved in but not dying,you can't defend yourself. If he had died, THEN he could have defended himself.

Roux said...

If he would have had a gun and shot and killed the security guard, could he use self-defense as a legal defense?