California Injury Lawyers Blog
A federal judge on Jan. 5 threw out a $21.5 million jury verdict awarded to an Illinois man who claimed he was injured during a cruise in 2011, after the man’s former assistant came forward to say he had intentionally deleted emails that could have hurt his case.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein ordered a new trial, saying she found the assistant’s testimony at a hearing last month credible – and that newly uncovered emails expose “grave inconsistencies” with James Hausman’s story.
According to the Claims Journal, Hausman, of Springfield, Illinois, sued Holland America Line in 2013. He said he suffered dizziness and seizures after an automatic sliding door improperly closed and struck his head as the ship approached Honolulu. After a two-week trial in October, a jury awarded him $21.5 million.