The family of a father-of-four sanitation worker who died after being run over by a street sweeper has won $41.5million in damages in a Queens court.
Steven Frosch was in the middle of greasing an idle street sweeper when he was run over by a colleague, Antonio G. DeCaro, who was making adjustments to his own street sweeper in a Maspeth Department of Sanitation garage in June 2014.
The 43-year-old, who had worked for the Department of Sanitation for 18 years, suffered extensive injuries to his chest in the horrific incident. He died at the the scene.
On Tuesday, the jury of six awarded the huge amount in damages to his family for his agonizing death, loss of income and loss of parental care of Frosch’s four children, who were between the ages of seven weeks old and 11 at the time of his death, the New York Daily News reported.
Steven Frosch (above) was killed in June 2014 when he was ran over by a colleague who was making adjustments to his own street sweeper in a Maspeth Department of Sanitation garage
The 43-year-old father-of-four (above with his wife and kids) suffered extensive injuries to his chest in the horrific incident. His family was awarded $41.5million in a Queens court on Tuesday
The family’s attorney said Frosch died because of negligence of a fellow sanitation worker, who blamed the incident on faulty equipment (file above)
His widow, Bina Frosch, said in a statement: ‘The loss has been unbearable to me and my four children and it always will be.
‘I am grateful to the jury for recognizing how important Steven was to us.’
‘This is one of the largest wrongful death awards in Queens, without question,’ said Ben Rubinowitz, an attorney for the Frosch family. ‘It was a horrible way to die.’
Rubinowitz said Frosch died because of negligence of a fellow sanitation worker, who blamed the incident on faulty equipment.
The wrongful-death suit claimed that DeCaro ‘negligently took his foot off the brake pedal without putting his vehicle in park,’ causing the accident.
During Frosch’s funeral (above), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that the sanitation worker was a ‘New Yorker to the core’
But DeCaro blamed the incident on faulty equipment; the city responsible for the $41.5million judgement since DeCaro was driving the street sweeper as part of his job.
Frosch was roughly two years away from retiring as a sanitation worker with a pension and had planned to become a financial planner.
Frosch was roughly two years away from retiring as a sanitation worker with a pension before his tragic death
Rubinowitz said that Frosch, who was a former NYPD officer, had begun saving money at 19 years old and that factored into the sizable verdict.
He added that Frosch frequently gave his co-workers financial advice on how to save for the future.
The city plans to appeal the $41.5million verdict.
‘The city recognizes that this was a tragedy and did not contest,’ a Law Department spokesman told the Daily News.
‘However, the city believes that the jury’s verdict exceeds the reasonable limits that have been recognized by appellate courts and will pursue its legal options to reduce the award.’
During Frosch’s funeral, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that the sanitation worker was a ‘New Yorker to the core.’
The garage where he died is now known as the ‘Steven Frosch Garage.’
The garage in Maspeth where he died is now known as the ‘Steven Frosch Garage’ (above)