Senior Attacked By Neighbor's Rottweiler In Union Co. Receives $1M Settlement

UNION COUNTY, NJ — Two years after 72-year-old Rahway resident Jane Martin was attacked and severely injured by her neighbor's rottweiller, a settlement has been reached.

Martin will receive a total of $1.025 million after filing a lawsuit against her neighbor and Greatescapes Contractors — the company that installed the fence where the dog broke though the day of the attack, according to NJ injury lawyer Howard P. Lesnik.

On Feb. 28, 2020, the large dog escaped its owner's yard when part of the fence separating the two properties collapsed. The dog attacked Martin while she was on her front porch, Lesnik wrote.

The dog bit and held Martin's arm, dragging her down the steps and across her driveway toward the neighbor's home, until a passerby intervened and forced the dog to release Martin by hitting it with a stick.

According to Lesnik, Martin suffered extensive injuries that resulted in the permanent loss of the use of her right hand — despite 11 surgeries she received to save the injured limb and physical therapy.

When medical help arrived after the attack, Martin had no radial pulse, and the damage inflicted on the arteries, veins and tendons of her hand and lower are was too extensive for doctors to restore mobility or anything except for minimal sensation.

At 72 years old, Martin had to re-learn how to write, use a fork and perform other basic tasks with her left hand, according to Lesnik.

Lesnik said Martin now suffers from chronic pain in the limb, the treatment of which required a spinal cord stimulator surgically implanted into her back.

“New Jersey has a ‘strict liability’ statute which holds dog owners liable for any injury damages that result when their dog bites a person, provided that the victim was either on public property, or legally on private property (not trespassing) when the bite incident occurred," Lesnik said in a statement. "There is no requirement that the dog’s owner have prior knowledge that their dog exhibited any vicious behavior or tendency to bite. As Martin was bitten when the dog entered Martin’s own property, the strict liability standard applies."

The law firm states that any breed of dog has the potential to be vicious and harm humans, and responsible dog ownership involves "properly training and socializing, and controlling the dog’s movements when needed."

In this case, the law firm said the rottweiler’s owner had "taken the precaution of erecting a fence on his property line – which is why Greatescapes Contractors, the company that installed the fence, and its principal, Anthony Pardo, were also named in the lawsuit."

Greatscapes was hired to move the fence to match the property line, but the law firm argues that the job was poorly done.

"Fence posts were not plumb, and leaned to the west. Scuff marks on the fence’s top rail indicated that the posts wobbled excessively in windy weather. The fence was improperly rebuilt, resulting in a dangerous nuisance condition under normal use," the law firm wrote.

In addition to receiving $300,000 from her neighbor's homeowner insurance policy in Dec. of 2020, Martin received $750,000 from Greatescapes and Pardo on June 7.

This money will help pay for Martin's extensive medial costs and adapt to her permanent disability, the law firm wrote.

“We reached a fair settlement,” Lesnik said. “It is rewarding when the companies and parties responsible for their negligence that caused such a severe physical and emotional trauma are held responsible."

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