AMPUTEE GETS $2.7 MILLION SETTLEMENT FROM DISTRICT

The bus driver, a 39-year-old man, was trying to make a left turn at the intersection and did not see the pedestrian in the crosswalk, police said at the time. The bus was carrying 10 students, who were uninjured.

The East Rutherford Board of Education and other defendants will pay $2.75 million to a man whose leg was amputated after a school bus accident, the victim's lawyer said.

The nearly 5-year-old lawsuit was settled Wednesday, Oct. 6, and calls for $2.7 million to be paid by the East Rutherford school board and bus driver Robert Dervishi. The $50,000 remainder will be paid by Mark Reho and Prospect Transportation Inc. and their respective liability carriers.

Albert D'Amore of East Rutherford was walking west on Paterson Avenue toward his home on Humboldt Street on Oct. 17, 2016, when he was run over by a school bus driven by Dervishi in the Everett Place crosswalk. Dervishi was employed by the East Rutherford school district.

The bus driver, a 39-year-old man, was trying to make a left turn at the intersection and did not see the pedestrian in the crosswalk, police said at the time. The bus was carrying 10 students, who were uninjured.

"Everett Place and Paterson Avenue is known as a busy and dangerous location," said D'Amore's attorney, Arthur N. Chagaris, in a statement.

As a result of the incident, the bus driver was issued a summons for failure to yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian, Chagaris said.

D'Amore filed a lawsuit against the school board, Dervishi, Aetna Insurance and the Rawlings Co., an insurance claims recovery company. In addition, the driver of another vehicle was also sued.

Although D'Amore endured multiple surgeries and extensive medical treatment over two months, his left leg had to be amputated.

Albert "sustained severe, permanent and life-altering bodily injuries, permanent loss of bodily functions, and permanent scarring and disfigurement," the lawsuit said, and requires future medical treatment.

In the lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Bergen County, D'Amore claimed the school board was negligent in hiring and training Dervishi.

The East Rutherford Board of Education and Dervishi's attorney, Thomas Emala, did not respond to requests for information.

The bus driver, a 39-year-old man, was trying to make a left turn at the intersection and did not see the pedestrian in the crosswalk, police said at the time. The bus was carrying 10 students, who were uninjured.