DID WILLIE TAKE THE FALL?

In Coston v. McGray, Willie Coston filed suit to recover damages for cervical and spinal injuries he suffered as a result of two motor vehicle accidents.

In order to win his case, Willie was required to prove he sustained “serious injuries” within the meaning of state law -- Insurance Law 5102(d) -- which requires a plaintiff to present evidence supporting a “causal relationship” between the injuries and the accident at issue. While Willie submitted an independent medical examiner’s report, which detailed cervical and spinal damage, he acknowledged that a prior fall and accident had caused significant back injuries.

The Ulster County Supreme Court dismissed the case, finding that Willie hadn’t met the law's threshold because other factors had “interrupted ‘the chain of causation between the accident and the claimed injury.’”

On appeal, the Appellate Division, Third Department, was equally unsympathetic to Willie’s posture.

They clearly didn't have his back covered.