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Jury: motel, stroke victim share blame, Man stuck in Red Lodge room gets half of $1.1M award By CLAIR JOHNSON Of The Gazette Staff A Massachusetts man who suffered a stroke while staying at the Best Western LuPine Inn in Red Lodge and wasn't found for 3½ days was awarded damages by a federal jury that found both the motel and the guest negligent. The seven-person panel on Thursday determined that damages for Jeffrey V. Wojtowicz, of Holland, Mass., totaled $1,135,666 and that each party was 50 percent negligent. That means Wojtowicz is entitled to receive half of the award, or $567,833. The jury deliberated five hours in the four-day trial. Wojtowicz, 41, said he didn't blame the motel for his stroke but claimed the damage would have been less severe had he received medical treatment sooner. His attorneys sought $2.27 million in damages for medical expenses, loss of future earnings and pain and suffering. The jury's award was about half that amount. "We're happy with the verdict,' said attorney Lawrence Cozzens, who represented Wojtowicz with partner Steven Harman. Attorney James Halvorson, who represented the motel and owner Jeff Wilson, declined to comment. Wilson said he and his staff acted responsibly and that Wojtowicz's injuries were caused by the stroke. Wojtowicz sued in 2003 after suffering a stroke that paralyzed his right side on June 5, 2000. Wojtowicz said he ended up wedged on the floor between a bed and a wall unable to move until June 8, when help arrived. Wojtowicz walks with a limp, has spasms in his right arm and continues to need medical care. His medical bills exceed $200,000. The stroke left him unable to return to work as a Postal Service rural mail carrier, and he remains unemployed. Cozzens called as witnesses Wojtowicz, his girlfriend, his parents, doctors, emergency responders and motel staff, including Wilson. Halvorson called no witnesses and presented the defense case through cross-examination. Wojtowicz was driving home to Massachusetts after spending a week in Yellowstone National Park when he checked into the LuPine Inn on June 4 for one night. He paid with a credit card and did not leave the account open because he intended to leave early in the morning, he said. He got up about 3 a.m. and was taking a shower when he passed out, he said. When he came to, he said, he found himself sitting in the tub, unable to move his right side. He thought his leg muscles were cramping, he testified. Wojtowicz turned off the water and struggled to get out of the tub. He scooted along the floor to the nearest bed and leaned against it while still on the floor, he said. The next thing he remembered was hearing a knock on the door about noon and a woman asking whether he needed housekeeping service. "I said I'd be out shortly,' he said, still thinking he had a leg cramp. Wojtowicz managed to pull on his shorts. His next memory, he said, was of being stuck lying on his right side on the floor between the bed and bathroom wall. A couple of days passed, and on June 8, he started banging on the wall, he said. Wojtowicz asked for help when a housekeeper knocked on his door. A Red Lodge police officer and emergency medical responders arrived and had to move the bed and box springs to free Wojtowicz, according to testimony. Wojtowicz was taken to the hospital in Red Lodge and was flown by helicopter to Deaconess Billings Clinic, where he stayed for about three weeks before returning to Massachusetts for more treatment. Wojtowicz said he did not remember the telephone ringing in his room and could not have reached it. Also, he did not put a "do not disturb' notice on his door, he said. Wojtowicz's parents and his girlfriend all testified that when they asked Wilson why no one checked on Wojtowicz, Wilson responded that the motel gets people who go on drinking or drug binges and that he leaves them alone until they check out. Wilson said he didn't remember those conversations and said, "That's not a statement I would make.' Wilson said he talked to Wojtowicz on the telephone the afternoon of June 5 and asked whether he would be extending his stay. Wojtowicz replied he would be staying and didn't need housekeeping, Wilson said. A desk clerk testified she talked on the telephone to Wojtowicz twice on June 7 about whether he was checking out. And a housekeeper said there was a "do not disturb' sign on Wojtowicz's door. Cozzens said the evidence, especially medical evidence, showed that the alleged telephone calls from the desk clerk "just could not have happened.' Cozzens also questioned Wilson's account of his conversation with Wojtowicz. In other testimony, Dr. Patrick Cahill, a Billings neurologist who treated Wojtowicz, said if Wojtowicz had received medical care within the first 24 hours of his stroke, he would have been able to return to work and his injuries would have been reduced by about 50 percent. Wojtowicz acknowledged he had been experiencing numbness in his right arm before the stroke but did not seek medical attention. He should have sought help to learn what was wrong, Halvorson said.