A Brooklyn man was driving to work one day when he approached a driver who was sitting a the corner of an intersection. His attention was diverted, however, and he rear-ended the driver sitting still, Paula. Despite the fact that the accident was relatively minor, a few days later, Paula was claiming that she was suffering whiplash as a result of the collision. Making matters worse was the fact that she had a number of witnesses, including a doctor and a physical therapist who claimed that the pain and discomfort she was complaining of were the results of exactly the type of actions that took place in the accident. She filed suit against the man for his negligence in causing the accident that resulted in her injuries as well as pain and suffering as well as lost wages and medical expenses.
The man who caused the accident was quick to hire a car accident lawyer in an effort to protect himself from her claim, but interestingly enough, an investigation that the attorney initiated after she filed suit revealed what could have been the real reason for her injury, or at least enough to mitigate the impact the attorney’s client might have had in the accident that he had caused.
It turned out that the day before the accident, the woman who was claiming a whiplash injury resulting from the accident had played golf the day before, and while walking toward the clubhouse the glass door of the front was forced open by another golfer on their way out of the clubhouse. Startled at the glass door about to hit her, she jerked her head and body away from the door to avoid being struck. All of this might have gone unnoticed, except for the fact that that afternoon she started having pain in her neck and called her doctor to set up an appointment the next day. Making matters worse, the lawyer found out she had discussed the nature of her injury with her doctor’s assistant as well as several other members of the golf club, who related what had happened to the car accident lawyer. It was also learned that the woman had a history of making frivolous legal claims at various times in her life.
Despite the fact that the woman had not been to the doctor yet by the time of the accident, the car accident attorney who was investigating the case found out about the incident at the golf club as well as the intended doctor’s appointment. All of this was presented to the woman’s insurance company, and since she was unable to prove what of her injuries were caused by the clubhouse incident and what had been caused as a result of the traffic accident, the woman’ attorney advised her to drop her case, which she did. There was, however, a significant amount of damage done to the woman’s car, which was indisputably caused by the accident, which the man paid from his own pocket. This settled the claim in total.