$85 Million Verdict for Penn Med Student Who Fell 18 Feet Into Open Center City Manhole

In June 2004, Marcus Gustafsson, a 30-year-old Brown University graduate pursuing dual degrees in medicine and molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania, was walking to his bus stop through Rittenhouse Square when he stepped into an open manhole vault at 19th and Walnut Streets. Minutes earlier, a homeless man had pried off the 250-pound steel cover. Gustafsson fell roughly 18 feet.

The fall fractured his spine. The injury, a spinal burst fracture, left him in chronic pain and unable to complete the extended periods of standing required during medical clinical rotations. He finished his doctorate in molecular biology but could not finish his medical degree. His career as a physician was over before it began.

The defendant was Trigen-Philadelphia Energy Corp., a utility that owned and operated approximately 475 manholes beneath Center City streets. At trial, Matt Casey of Ross Feller Casey demonstrated that Trigen was not blindsided by the threat. Internal company emails from 1995 and again from 2001 documented that homeless individuals were routinely removing manhole covers for shelter. The company used a technique called tak-welding to secure some lids, but the practice was applied inconsistently and was directed primarily at protecting underground equipment rather than ensuring public safety. The vault at 19th and Walnut was left unsecured.

After a three-week trial, the jury deliberated and returned a 12-0 verdict of $85 million in compensatory damages. As the jury was preparing to come back, the defense offered $10 million to settle; Casey, in consultation with his client, turned it down.

Trigen's actual payment was governed by a pre-trial high-low agreement that capped its exposure at $18 million regardless of the jury's number. Gustafsson collected $18 million from Trigen and an additional $4.9 million from other defendants named in the suit, for a total recovery of approximately $22.9 million. Lawyers USA reported the $85 million jury figure as the largest personal injury verdict in the country for 2008 and the largest premises liability verdict in Pennsylvania history.