The Law Firm of Stephen M. Reck Files Suit for Death of Disabled Man

The Law Firm of Stephen M. Reck has filed suit on behalf of the estate of a Groton man who died January 16, 2009 after ambulance attendants dropped his wheelchair while trying to carry him up stairs into his apartment, causing the man’s head to strike a concrete step, resulting in a traumatic brain injury and massive hemorrhaging. The suit names as defendants Hunter’s Ambulance Service, Inc.; Groton Estates, LLC; and MCR Property Management, Inc.

The plaintiff alleges that Hunter’s Ambulance was negligent in various ways including dropping the wheelchair, causing Mr. Vasquez to strike his head, and failing to use a stair chair in order to safely move him up the stairs where there was no ramp. The suit alleges that Groton Estates and MCR Property Management were negligent in a variety of contributing ways, including violating the Connecticut State Building Code by having unsafe stairs, failing to provide a proper handrail, and failing to provide or allow a wheelchair ramp. The plaintiff alleges that they denied or discouraged the construction of a wheelchair ramp, in violation of the Connecticut Fair Housing Act and the Discriminatory Housing Practices Act.

Attorney Scott D. Camassar, who represents the family, said Mr. Vasquez’s death has been hard on his family, especially his son Jose Vasquez, who lived with his father in order to care for him 24 hours a day. “To lose his father after a preventable accident, after the man was sick for so many years, is especially painful to him” noted Camassar.

The Day covers the story here.