| Virginia Beach woman gets $12.4 million |
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AUGUST 29, 2000 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT ARCHIVES BEACH WOMAN GETS $12.4 MILLION Published: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 © Landmark Communications Inc. NORFOLK - A preschool teacher whose arm was crushed by a monster truck at a 1998 Virginia Beach show won a $12.4 million settlement Monday from the truck's owner and the show's organizer. It is one of the biggest out-of-court settlements ever in Hampton Roads. The victim, Joy Kubitza of Virginia Beach, now 29, was a paying passenger in the 4x4 monster truck, called Grave Digger, when it flipped on the Oceanfront beach while doing high-speed twists and turns on October 17, 1998. The truck was carrying 13 paying passengers. Kubitza was the most seriously hurt. At the time, police said none of the thrill-seekers was badly injured. After the truck overturned, all the passengers were dangling upside down, strapped to their seats. Six passengers, ranging in age from 2 to 52, were treated at a hospital and released. Kubitza's right arm was crushed between the truck and the sand. Doctors at the time did not realize how serious her injury was. A few days later, her arm swelled to three times its normal size. Since then, she has undergone 37 surgeries and nerve-blocking procedures. Her arm is now useless and causes her constant, severe pain, she said. Her hand has contracted into a permanent claw. Her elbow has also contracted so that her arm is nearly pressed into her chest. She suffered serious nerve damage. She wears a large brace and an electrical device that helps moderate her pain. Before the accident, Kubitza was a preschool teacher at the Norfolk Naval Base Child Development Center. She can no longer work. "I'm in agony every second of the day," she said Monday. Last year, Kubitza sued the truck's owner, Grave Digger 4x4, Inc., and the show's organizer, Cellar Door Entertainment, Inc., for $15 million. The case was settled Monday morning in Norfolk Circuit Court, just before the trial was to start. "It was a very good settlement for a very deserving young lady," said one of Kubitza's attorneys, O.L. "Buzz" Gilbert, of Norfolk. "She'll never get use of the arm back," said Kubitza's other attorney, Jeffrey A. Breit. "But it's the pain that's disabling."
Grave Digger and Cellar Door agreed to pay $5.5 million in cash, to be paid over Kubitza's lifetime. She eventually will receive $12.4 million, including interest. Grave Digger agreed to pay nearly $1 million, the maximum available from its insurance policy. Cellar Door agreed to pay $4.5 million. "It'll help me find a doctor who can help me," Kubitza said. It is not the biggest award in a Hampton Roads personal injury case. That came in a $20 million jury verdict during a 1997 Portsmouth car-crash trial. The award was later reduced to $17.5 million in a settlement. The Grave Digger accident happened at the first Monster Truck Show at the Oceanfront. Thousands of spectators came to cheer on trucks with names such as Carolina Crusher, Nitemare and The Undertaker that raced over man-made sand dunes. On the resort strip, customers paid $5 to ride in the Grave Digger, billed as "the world's best-known monster truck" - a 1950 Chevrolet panel van with skulls, crossbones and tombstones painted on its sides. The cab is more than 10 feet off the ground. The truck didn't appear scary, Kubitza said. "It seemed like fun," she said. But near the end of the ride, the truck tipped as it hit the water's edge. "He was gunning it for the water, toward the water," and seemed to be going too fast, Kubitza recalled. Some tires hit wet sand while others were on dry sand. There may have been too many trucks on the beach, Gilbert said - three trucks in a spot big enough for one. That may have forced the Grave Digger onto the wet sand, he said. After the accident, Kubitza said she did not receive an apology, visit or call from the driver, the Grave Digger company or Cellar Door. Today, she takes the same pain medication as an end-stage terminal cancer patient, Gilbert said.
A one-week trial was scheduled to start Monday. Kubitza's parents traveled from New Hampshire to be with her. The case was settled after lengthy negotiations and a final phone call to Cellar Door's insurance company Monday morning. Attorneys for Grave Digger and Cellar Door declined to comment. Reach Marc Davis at 446-2303 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
This article is (c) 1996 Landmark Communications, Inc. and may not be republished without permission. If you have questions or comments about the archives, please send us feedback. Awarded: $12,400,000 |
Some people say personal injury law is just about money. It's not.
It's about rebuilding the face of a young girl shattered by a drunk driver. It's about college money for 2 young boys, their father killed by a speeding tractor trailer.