North Hempstead to pay $1.9M after losing trip-and-fall lawsuit
The Port Washington Adult Activities Center on Friday. North Hempstead will pay $1.89 million to a woman who sued the town after allegedly falling and injuring herself at the center. Credit: Neil Miller
North Hempstead will borrow close to $1.9 million to pay a court judgment won by a woman who alleged she tripped on torn carpeting, fell and injured herself 11 years ago while working in a town-owned building.
Gail Selis had been working as a caseworker with the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged, or JASA, a nonprofit that had a contract to work out of a town-owned facility in Port Washington, according to the complaint. The town owns the facility, which is now known as the Port Washington Adult Activities Center. It was formerly the Port Washington Senior Citizens Center.
Selis tripped and fell “on a torn section of carpeting" after plugging in a space heater while at work on Jan. 5, 2015, according to the suit. That part of the carpet was "covered with duct tape," according to court documents.
“She was caused to fall and sustain serious and permanent personal injuries as a result of the negligence, recklessness, and carelessness of the defendants,” the lawsuit said.
In 2021, a jury in Nassau Supreme Court ruled in Selis' favor, awarding more than $1.3 million plus 9% annual interest. The jury had found the town to be "100% liable," according to the judgment.
The town board approved the borrowing during a meeting on Tuesday. Officials said they hope to be reimbursed by JASA at a later date.
In 2017, the town filed a third-party lawsuit against JASA, arguing the agency was liable because of an indemnity agreement. A Nassau Supreme Court judge ruled in the town's favor in March 2024. JASA appealed that decision, and that case is pending.
A lawyer for JASA argued in the appeal it was the town's responsibility to maintain the office.
The agreement between JASA and the town did not "pertain at all to the maintenance of the premises," wrote Kevin Murtagh, JASA's Albertson-based attorney, in a court filing. Therefore, he said, "it admittedly was the Town’s responsibility since it owned the premises where the incident occurred."
Selis' Forest Hills-based attorney, Barry Liebman, did not respond to a request for comment.
North Hempstead appealed the initial judgment to the Appellate Division's Second Department. The appeal was rejected on Dec. 24, prompting the town to schedule the Feb. 3 bond vote, Town Attorney Richard Nicolello said in an interview.
The jury's verdict "was not utterly irrational," Clerk of Court Darrell Joseph wrote in a three-page decision rejecting the appeal. He noted that a town employee testified that North Hempstead "did not conduct regular inspections" inside the senior center.
JASA, which was founded in 1968 and caters to older adults, serves more than 40,000 people each year, according to the nonprofit's website.
In November 2015, Newsday reported on Selis' work with the town as a JASA caseworker: helping younger veterans.
Selis was part of an initiative that stemmed from the town's veterans advisory committee.
"A lot of young veterans are not aware of the services they qualify for," Selis told Newsday in 2015.
The town settled another slip-and-fall lawsuit last year involving an injury at one of its properties.
In April, the town board approved a $140,000 settlement payment to a man who alleged he slipped and fell on a "dangerous" gangway by the town dock in Port Washington.
Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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