A jury Friday awarded a New York City man $4.5 million in damages for injuries he suffered when his apartment ceiling collapsed while he was sitting on the toilet in his bathroom.
Attorney Charles Gucciardo said his client, Bernard O'Callaghan, 39, has epileptic seizures and bouts of depression as a result of the June 19, 1986, accident.The jury decided against O'Callaghan's former landlord, Robert Walsh. Gucciardo said he argued Walsh was responsible for the collapse because he did not make ceiling repairs in the Bronx apartment after a massive leak was found.
He now has a brain lesion that has brought on 30 epileptic seizures since 1986, the attorney added.
"When he has these seizures, they're terrible . . . sometimes he urinates. That has made him very depressed," Gucciardo said.