Trial Magazine

Shannon Adamson, 30, worked as an officer aboard the M/V Columbia, a passenger and automobile ferry. While adjusting a passenger gangway at a cruise ship terminal, she fell 15 to 20 feet after the gangway collapsed.

She suffered a traumatic brain injury; multiple fractures, including a fractured pelvis; two punctured lungs; and a lacerated liver. Adamson, who now walks with a cane and suffers from neurological deficits, returned to work part time, incurring about $294,400 in lost wages. Her medical expenses were about $227,100.

Adamson and her husband sued the Port of Bellingham, Wash., which supplied the gangway, alleging it failed to fix its electronic control panel despite a similar incident four years earlier and the defendant’s promise to eliminate the gangway’s mechanical defects.

The jury awarded the plaintiffs about $16.01 million.

Citation: Adamson v. Port of Bellingham, No. 2:14-cv-01804-MJP (W.D. Wash. Apr. 1, 2016).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member James Jacobsen and Joseph Stacey, both of Seattle.