Corboy & Demetrio Obtains $1.6M for School Crossing Guard Struck by Day Care Bus
The Chicago law firm of Corboy & Demetrio has obtained a $1.6 million settlement on behalf of a school crossing guard who was struck in the head by the mirror of a bus owned by the national day care center, La Petite Academy.
The crossing guard, 59-year-old Dale Strzyz, was working for the Village of Grayslake Police Department as a Community Service Officer directing traffic when she was struck on Nov. 29, 2011.
Corboy & Demetrio lawyer Michelle M. Kohut, who represented Strzyz, said, “Ms. Strzyz enjoyed working as a community service officer; however, due to her post concussive symptoms, she can never return to this kind of active line of work.”
Strzyz was directing traffic on Route 120 in front of Prairieview School in Hainesville when the mirror of the bus struck her, causing her to fall forward and strike her head on the pavement. She was wearing a yellow traffic safety vest and her squad car was parked on the painted median with emergency lights activated, according to those on the scene. Strzyz was also holding a flashlight with an orange cone attached. She suffered a concussion with subarachnoid hemorrhage; facial lacerations; nondisplaced fracture of the anterior wall of the right frontal sinus; medial wall of the right orbit and bilateral nasal bones; nondisplaced left distal radius fracture and neck strain.
“Although she will never regain her prior state of health, these settlement funds will allow Ms. Strzyz some peace of mind that she can care for herself and continue to provide for her family,” Kohut added.
Case info: Dale M. Strzyz v. La Petite Academy, Mary M. Moore and Learning Care Group, Inc., No. 12L301, 19th Judicial Circuit Court, Lake County, IL. Dismissal Order entered by Judge Thomas M. Schippers on Dec. 3, 2013.