$35M WIN FOR A LIFE SHATTERED
Ailing banker’s traumatic glass-door suit
A former JPMorgan analyst was awarded a $35 million verdict after the glass door of a Manhattan building suddenly shattered on her nearly a decade ago, leaving her with permanent brain damage, The Post has learned.
The ruling in favor of Meghan Brown, 36, followed a three-week trial in which jurors were shown shocking surveillance video of the moment the 7 ¹/₂-foot-tall lobby door seemingly exploded as she was walking through it while leaving a physical-therapy appointment in 2015.
‘Glass, like everywhere’
“I do remember seeing glass, like, everywhere in the lobby near me,” Brown told jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The harrowing incident at 271 Madison Ave. inflicted a traumatic brain injury to Brown, then, 27, leading to the demise of her promising career in investment banking.
“Well one of the biggest problems I have with my brain is that I can’t trust it,” she said during emotional testimony on March 12, according to a trial transcript reviewed by The Post.
It took three days of deliberations for the six-person jury to unanimously rule in favor of Brown, finding that the negligence of building owner 271 Madison Co. was “a substantial factor in causing” her injuries, according to a jury verdict sheet.
The injuries ultimately cost Brown her job as a high-level analyst, she told jurors, saying it also negatively affected her ability to carry out everyday tasks and even damaged her love life.
The former banker, now a resident of Naples, Fla., who runs a gelato business, was out for a year after the incident before going back to JPMorgan — but her career slowly declined and she was ultimately fired in 2021.
“Eventually she was let go permanently and has not worked in that type of investment banking since,” her attorney, Tom Moore, told The Post. “She keeps trying but just can’t perform.”
She was diagnosed with PTSD, her executive function has slowed and her memory, focus and vocabulary have all suffered, she testified.
She’s also now highly sensitive to light, has permanent headaches and neck pain, issues with her depth perception and experiences vertigo and balance issues, she explained to the jury.
Brown said she has been forced to seek out medical treatment and has seen many different types of specialists as she attempts to cope with her new normal.
Thomas Sofield, a lawyer for the building owners, tried to paint the incident has a freak accident that couldn’t have been prevented by the landlord.
He didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Ultimately, jurors awarded Brown precisely $35,184,208 in damages on Thursday. JPMorgan was not a party to the lawsuit.