The family of a sanitation worker who was accidentally run over by a colleague driving a street sweeper was awarded $41.5 million by a jury of six in Queens, New York last week.
The incident occurred while 43-year-old Steven Frosch was making adjustments to his own street sweeper in a Department of Sanitation garage. Frosh sustained severe injuries to his chest, causing what his attorney called “an agonizing death.” The nature of the death, along with the loss of parental care for Frosch’s four children and the loss of his income – both present and future – were reportedly factors in the size of the award.
Frosch intended to become a financial planner in two years, when he retired from his job with a pension. News sources say his advice to colleagues about saving and investing helped persuade the jury that he had significant earnings potential as a financial advisor.
Frosch’s funeral was attended by hundreds of his fellow sanitation workers. The garage where he died has been renamed the “Steven Frosch Garage.”