Judge adds $3.78 million to verdict in Westmoreland swimming pool injury case

A Westmoreland County judge awarded $3.7 million in delayed damages to a Vandergrift man who was left a quadriplegic after he jumped onto a raft in a friend’s swimming pool in 2013.

After a trial in March, a jury issued a $19 million verdict, a record high in Westmoreland County, against pool owners Robert and Laura O’Black of Washington Township.

The jury determined the O’Blacks were 70% liable for the neck and spinal injuries sustained by then-21-year-old Michael Fraser.

The verdict included damages to pay for Fraser’s current and future medical expenses, as well as for pain and suffering, embarrassment, disfigurement and loss of life’s pleasures.

Fraser, according to trial testimony, jumped from a diving board into the O’Blacks’ pool and bounced on a 5-foot inflatable rubber raft that was not rated to be used in swimming pools. Witnesses said Fraser hit his head on the pool bottom as it transitioned from deep to shallow water.

A warning label on the raft — advising it was not to be used in pools — had been covered prior to use, witnesses claimed.

Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr. molded the verdict to conform with the jury’s finding and reduced the initial payout to Fraser to $13.3 million.

The judge this week ruled Fraser was entitled to another $3.7 million for delayed damages because the O’Blacks, through their lawyers, never attempted to settle the case before it went to trial.

With the delayed damages and molded verdict, Fraser is now due to receive more than $17 million.

“The jury’s voice has been upheld,” Fraser’s attorney, Michael Calder, said Friday.

Lawyers for the O’Blacks did not respond to a request for comment.

The O’Blacks challenged the application of delayed damages. They also had asked Smail to overturn the verdict and order a new trial. The judge denied both requests.

Smail ruled there was no basis for a new trial, and evidence presented during the case supported the jury’s verdict.