Posted by Katie Kontos.
Years ago a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY) entitled Look Up went viral that urged the public to put down their phones and other technology to pay attention to the world around them. The most moving line says, “So look up from your phone, shut down the display take in your surroundings make the most of today.”
Well DeToya Moody, a 30 year old woman from Georgia, has proved in her court case against Allison Escott that it is possible to benefit from keeping your phone in front of your face. Moody claims that she never saw the orange ladder of a bucket truck prior to smacking her head on it one sunny afternoon. The ladder had been raised across a public sidewalk and surrounded by orange cones the first three times Moody passed it. Seeming to be a completely safe path to walk, the woman made it from her car to the store, back to her car, and then to the ATM without a problem. However, upon walking back to her car from the ATM, Moody, staring intently at her cell phone, did not see that the worker operating the truck had lowered the ladder and proceeded to walk directly into it. The physician who examined her after the incident diagnosed her with a mild head concussion, post-traumatic headaches, and an indentation on her head from the contact.
Moody and her lawyer attempted to settle out of court with the company owner of the truck and the worker operating the truck during the accident, but with the company offering to settle for $5,000 after being asked $75,000, it went to trial. So, after going to court the DeKalb County jury determined that Moody would be awarded $161,000. This is a great example of why many cases are settled by mediation or arbitration, because there is no way of knowing what a jury will decide when a suit is brought to court. The award could have been $175,000 but the jury deemed that the accident was eight percent Moody’s fault so they gave her 92% of the award.
Again, this is a perfect example of why most cases never go to trial. In court, Moody’s lawyer only asked the jury for $155,000 but they decided that the compensatory damages should be more than that.
After the trial “Robert Finlayson II of Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins, who defended the company that was using the truck said via email that he would contest the verdict.‘We were disappointed with the verdict, and we do plan to challenge it at the trial level and on appeal,’ said Finlayson, who described the case as well tried on both sides.”
I think that the monetary value awarded to Moody should, as it did, cover any medical expenses, but the plaintiff was right when he noted that the defense against Moody, that she wasn’t paying attention, was “the common sense argument,” and therefore, awarding her $161,000 is outrageous. This woman was clearly not paying attention and there is video evidence “showing the woman engrossed in her cellphone as she struck the ladder and collapsed onto the concrete.”
All in all, this trial just goes to prove that you never know what will happen when you take a case to court, and while it probably rarely works out this way, sometimes having your eyes glued to your phone helps you win $161,000.
Katie is a social and behavioral science major, minor in business and psychology, at Seton Hall University, Class of 2019.