Car accident involving Paterson health department employee costs city $20,000 | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Car accident involving Paterson health department employee costs city $20,000

By Jayed Rahman
Published: August 12, 2015

city-hall-steeple

City officials paid out $20,000 to settle a lawsuit that stemmed from a Wayne vehicle accident involving a health department employee.

Vijayalak Raman’s vehicle was struck by a Passaic County truck operated by Carlos Sotomayes, a city employee, on April 1st, 2011, as she was traveling on Alps Road in Wayne.

Sotomayes drives a mini-bus that travels outside of the city to transport seniors. That day his vehicle “violently struck” Raman’s 1993 Mercedes Benz 300 in the rear, according to court records.

Raman, who resides in Wayne, allegedly sustained injuries to the neck, right shoulder, and lower back, according to her court complaint filed on March 28th, 2013.

Council members approved $20,000 last Wednesday evening to settle the lawsuit which involved two other parties.

Matri Petritisis struck Raman’s vehicle on the same street on August 8th, 2011.

An arbitrator awarded Raman $225,000 to be paid by Passaic County and $50,000 to be paid by Petritisis on December 4th, 2014, according to court records.

It’s not clear if Passaic County paid out any damages.

The more than thousand-page court file states Raman was “dazed” and badly injured in the accidents. She named Sotomayes in the lawsuit. The city was later added to the lawsuit on March 3rd, 2015, according to court records.


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