Widow Sues VFW Over Husband’s Death

By Andrew Gorosko

The widow of a former town worker has sued Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 308, of 18 Tinkerfield Road, charging  that the VFW is liable in the death of her husband who slipped, fell, and received head injuries  on an icy parking lot at the VFW post last January.

Mary Orten of Sandy Hook is the plaintiff in the case and the executrix of the estate of her late husband, Larry R. “Rick” Orten, who was 61 years old when he died last January 12 at Danbury Hospital.

A US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, Mr Orten had lived in Newtown for more than 40 years and was a member of the VFW post. Mr Orten was a longtime employee of the town highway department.

A conference on the pending lawsuit is scheduled for September 8 in Danbury Superior Court.

According to a revised complaint, which was filed on behalf of Ms Orten on July 29, the VFW oversaw the use of the parking lot adjacent to its building. On January 2, at about 11 pm, Mr Orten was lawfully in the parking lot after leaving the VFW building when “he was caused to slip and fall due to an accumulation of ice in the parking area.” The plaintiff filed an initial complaint on June 22.

The “incident and resulting injuries were caused by the carelessness and negligence of the defendant VFW,” according to the legal papers.

The plaintiff alleges that: the defendant knew or should have known that the parking lot was icy; failed to properly maintain the lot; failed to properly and reasonably inspect the parking lot; failed to place sand, salt, or other abrasive materials on the lot; failed to remove the ice from the lot in a timely manner; allowed the icy condition to remain for an unreasonable length of time; and failed to warn of the dangerous, icy  conditions in the parking lot.

“The negligence of the [VFW] was the sole proximate cause of a blunt force head trauma which led to the hospitalization and death of Larry Orten on January 12, 2009,” according to the lawsuit.

An autopsy on Mr Orten’s remains indicated that his death was accidental due to blunt-force head trauma, according to a spokeswoman for the chief state medical examiner. The autopsy indicated that Mr Orten had preexisting hypertension, the spokeswoman added.

According to the lawsuit, due to Mr Orten’s death, Ms Orten was forced to spend large amounts of money for hospital and medical care, medicines, diagnostic tests and therapy, and may be forced to spend additional money in the future. Ms Orten has sustained a loss of her husband’s earning capacity, it adds. Mr Orten’s death will adversely affect Ms Orten for the remainder of her life, the lawsuit states.

Through the lawsuit, Ms Orten seeks an unspecified amount of money damages, exceeding $15,000.

Ernest “Junie” Ingram, the commander of VFW Post 308, had no comment on the pending lawsuit, saying that the VFW’s attorney had advised him not to discuss the matter.

Ms Orten said of the pending case, “I have no comment.”

Ms Orten is represented by Micci & Korolyshun, PC, of Derby. The VFW is represented by Halloran & Sage of Wesport.