New York Supreme Court Judge upholds $59 million jury verdict for high school student catastrophically burned in class

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Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf

Aug 17, 2020, 14:23 ET

NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Last year a jury awarded almost $60 million to Alonso Yanes, a young man who suffered catastrophic burn injuries during a botched chemistry demonstration at New York's Beacon High School. A year later, in a well-reasoned, well thought out decision, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alexander Tisch upheld the jury's verdict of $29,585,000 for past pain and suffering and $29,585,000 for future pain and suffering for the young man.

Ben Rubinowitz and Richard Steigman, both partners at the New York Personal Injury Law Firm of Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf represented Alonso Yanes during the personal injury trial. They are extremely pleased with Justice Tisch's decision: "We are grateful that Justice Tisch took the time to write such an important and carefully written decision," said Ben Rubinowitz.

In his 38 page decision, Justice Tisch meticulously explained how Alonso Yanes, who was 16 year old at the time, was burned alive as his Teacher, Anna Poole, performed a "Rainbow Experiment" and negligently poured methanol, an extremely flammable fuel, from a gallon jug. That carelessness created a massive fireball that covered the student with millions of droplets of burning fuel. Alonso was engulfed in flames and continued burning until a teacher from another classroom brought in a fire blanket to extinguish the flames. The students were not provided any safety equipment or given any safety instruction. The classroom was not equipped with any safety features such as proper ventilation, showers or fire blankets.

Justice Tisch described the immense pain suffered by the student during his transport to the hospital while he was in critical condition fighting for his life. The judge described the agonizing pain endured by Alonso during his extensive hospital stay, during which time he underwent more than 100 surgical procedures. Justice Tisch meticulously detailed the pain and suffering Alonso will continue to endure, on a daily basis, for the rest of his life. In his decision Justice Tisch carefully and articulately explained his decision to uphold the $59,170,000 Jury verdict.

Contact: Ben Rubinowitz, [email protected], 212-943-1090

SOURCE Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf