If it wasn’t political favoritism, then it’s a sign of just how ridiculous New York’s slip-and-fall laws are: The city Law Department just settled with Dominique Sharpton, the Rev. Al’s daughter, agreeing to pay out $95,000 for a sprained ankle.
She’d originally filed for $5 million, claiming a “severe” injury because of cracked pavement at Broadway at Broome Street. But her own social media posts showed her both mountain-climbing and wearing high heels in the months after the accident she claimed had left her in “permanent physical pain.”
Plus, her Instagram post after the Oct. 2, 2014, “injury” was “I sprained my ankle real bad lol.” That LOL, of course, stands for “laughing out loud.”
Then, too, she missed four scheduled depositions over six months in 2016, only showing up to be questioned after the judge threatened to dismiss the case. In that grilling, she admitted she’d gotten dressed up after the injury and attended a two-hour concert in honor of her dad. Her deposition also revealed that she’d kept on working out afterward as well as traveling around the country, including a tour as part of a play.
Against that, she did undergo ligament surgery at the right time, and the city was forced to admit that it had been informed of the cracked pavement at that intersection, but failed to fix it.
That still seems like a thin case, but city lawyers insist the settlement is “in the best interest of the city.” That could mean simply that Sharpton was likely to be awarded some damages, and fighting to limit her award wouldn’t be worth the lawyers’ hours that it would take.
And, to be fair, it’s not clear how much of that 95 grand she’ll actually see: Her own lawyer, John Elefterakis, will get his cut first. He naturally praised his client for being “willing to settle her meritorious claim for a fair amount based on all factors.”
The $95,000 was a fair amount, after her legal team had vastly exaggerated the injury in hopes of a huge payout, and she herself treated the whole thing as laughable?
One longtime local personal injury lawyer told The Post that Sharpton’s case was “really worth about half that, not even, maybe $25,000 or $35,000.” What she got, he said, “Sounds like a f–king de Blasio administration settlement to me.”
Once again, New York, the laugh is on you.