A former doorman who went flying down the steps at a subway station after slipping on bird waste has been awarded more than $six million in compensation.
Shelton Stewart, 56, was heading home from his job when he stepped on the pigeon poop on September 21, 1998. He had noticed the pile on his way to work that day. In fact, he said, it had been there a long time.
Stewart wound up with two broken bones in his neck and one in his back, along with herniated discs and a bruise to his spinal cord and was nearly helpless the first five years after the fall, his lawyer claimed.
The trial took three weeks, but the jury took less than a day to award Stewart USD 7.67 million in damages, the New York Post reported.
He'll get only 80 per cent of that, or USD6.13 million, because he was found 20 per cent liable for failing to avoid the poop pile the second time around.
Stewart's lawyer, Robert Genis said New York City Transit has indicated that it planned to appeal.
Now divorced, Stewart said he was thinking of using his windfall to buy a house and take his two daughters and grandchild to Disney World.
"The (Transit Authority) was doing absolutely nothing to get rid of the pigeons or their leavings," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"The (Transit Authority) was doing absolutely nothing to get rid of the pigeons or their leavings," he said.
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