News Archives

Publication Date: 01/18/1994
Source: The Montgomery Journal
Copyright: 1994 The Montgomery Journal
Author: Adrianne Flynn
Page: A6 County Wrap

Car Crash Victim Settles for $1.1M

A Gaithersburg woman hurt in a 1988 car accident settled her case against the driver and his employer for $1.1 million yesterday after a jury awarded her more than $3 million.

Pamela Wertz was unable to continue working up the Holiday Inn corporate ladder after a debilitating and permanent shoulder injury she suffered in the crash, said her attorney Steven D. Kupferberg.  She sued the truck driver, Steven B. Wakefoose, and his employer, Custom Carpet Shop Inc., in February 1991.

Wertz was stopped in traffic on July 6, 1988, when a truck driven by Wakefoose and owned by Custom Carpet rear-ended her automobile.  She sustained injuries to her shoulder and back, Kupferberg said.

The trial jury awarded Wertz $3,156,000 in early December 1993. Rockville Circuit Judge Warren Donohue cut the non-economic damages, or those for pain and suffering, to Maryland's mandatory cap on such damages, $350,000.