The MTA has agreed to pay a $750,000 settlement to the household of a Queens man who died when he was shoved in entrance of an oncoming Q prepare at a Manhattan subway station practically a decade in the past.
Ki Suk Han’s widow and daughter introduced a $30 million wrongful-death go well with in opposition to the transit authority in 2013, claiming the conductor ought to have stopped the prepare earlier than it hit their liked one on the forty ninth Road station on Dec. 3, 2012.
“I feel they're very relieved that that is coming to an finish,” Han household lawyer Charen Kim advised The Publish following a court docket listening to Wednesday in regards to the settlement settlement.
Talking by a translator, Han’s widow, Se Rim Han, 64, advised the decide she agreed to the quantity, and needed to surrender her half of the cash so the couple’s now-29-year-old daughter, Ashley, may have the entire payout.
“It’s been a protracted battle in opposition to the Transit Authority for 10 years,” their legal professional mentioned. “There have been so many delays … they're lastly at some extent the place they will shut this chapter of their life and transfer on.”
The MTA had beforehand tried to argue that Naeem Davis, the homeless man who shoved Han, ought to be the one to pay.
Davis was cleared of homicide fees by a Manhattan jury in 2017 after his lawyer argued that Han was drunk and belligerent, and that his consumer had pushed the person in self-defense.
A contract Publish photographer had captured the second simply earlier than the Q prepare barreled into the station and crushed Han, a picture that made the entrance web page of the newspaper on the time.
“Sadly, in the course of the legal trial the household was very dissatisfied however fortuitously with the civil case they appear to be extra glad,” Kim mentioned.
Whereas the settlement quantity is far lower than the $30 million the Han household sued for, they didn’t need to dwell by a trial and any potential media consideration that might include it, the legal professional mentioned.
“I don’t suppose that the household needed to undergo the grief of trial once more,” Kim mentioned. “It might have been weeks and weeks of testimony. They didn't need to relive what they lived by.”
Manhattan Supreme Courtroom Justice Nancy Bannon mentioned she was going to signal and finalize the settlement settlement throughout the subsequent day.
Legal professionals for the household will obtain practically $290,000 of the entire sum. Han’s widow declined to remark.
It's unclear if the MTA — which beforehand blamed Davis, saying he ought to be on the hook for damages — will search to recoup any of the settlement cash from him.
The Transit Authority mentioned it could’t touch upon pending litigation.
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