Giants Stadium Beer Vendor Agrees To Settlement For Paralzying Crash

A stadium vendor has agreed to settle for $26 million in a personal injury lawsuit filed by the family of a girl who was paralyzed by the personal injuries she sustained in a 1999 car accident caused by a drunken New York Giants fan.

The settlement’s amount had been sealed until Wednesday, December 3, when a lower court’s decision to keep the settlement private was overturned by a New Jersey state appellate court.

Fazila Verni and her 11-year-old daughter, Antonia Verni, sought to keep the settlement private due to concerns over how the girl’s estranged father handled funds from previous settlements with other defendants in the suit.

The family filed suit against the concessionaire at Giants Stadium, Aramark Corp., which is based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, alleging that employees continued serving beer to Cresskill, New Jersey resident Daniel Lanzaro, despite the fact that he was visibly intoxicated.

Lanzaro’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was measured to have been 0.226, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08. Then 2-year-old Antonia Verni was paralyzed from the neck down as a result of the crash.

A jury in Bergen County, New Jersey originally awarded the family $105 million, but an appeal saw that ruling reversed in 2006. The parties reached a settlement a year ago.

According to the Verni family’s attorney, the family also reached separate settlements with the Giants, the National Football League, and Lanzaro for a total of approximately $1.2 million.