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Consent <br />Following the denial, Mr. Harrington obtained attorney Michael Horowitz for legal <br />representation. Due to Dr. Nocero's unexpected retirement, inability to testify and <br />inadmissibility of the letter he completed, both parties agreed to proceed to obtain an <br />IME physician to weigh in on Dr. Nocero's opinion. Attorney Horowitz obtained <br />cardiologist Dr. Tee to conduct the IME for the claimant in hopes of refuting Dr. Nocero's <br />opinion. Dr. Tee confirmed that hypertension and other health and medical conditions <br />would make it more likely than not that Mr. Harrington would develop coronary artery <br />disease which "for sure" caused the ischemic event. <br />The claim then went to mediation on March 4, 2024, at which time Mr. Harrington <br />informed us that instead of fighting the denial, he was interested in overall settlement <br />which included a resignation. He is in the DROP program and initially made a demand of <br />$450,000 to settle the claim. The County would not entertain his settlement demand <br />and advised that Mr. Harrington needed a more realistic demand. Both parties agreed to <br />review the claim for settlement and resume mediation negotiations on April 5, 2024. <br />EXPOSURE EVALUATION: <br />The employee is 49 years of age and has a life expectancy of an additional 29 years. He <br />was given a permanency rating of 42% of the whole body. The table below illustrates the <br />worst-case scenario, if the County does not prevail on the denial with an exposure <br />based on a 42% permanency rating. <br />Temporary Benefits <br />$4,446 05/19/2023 — 06/14/2023 <br />Impairment Benefits <br />$167,879 <br />Future Medical/RX <br />$668,160 RX @ $1,920 month x 29 yrs. <br />Attorney's Fees <br />$40,000 Claimant's only <br />Total Value <br />$880,485 <br />SETTLEMENT DEMAND: <br />The second mediation was held on April 5, 2024, and resulted in aggressive negations. <br />The parties reached a tentative settlement of $100,000 inclusive of attorney's fees, costs, <br />and Mr. Harrington's resignation. This settlement amount represents 11.36% of the total <br />possible exposure. <br />Following mediation, the contingent settlement of $100,000 was reviewed by John <br />Titkanich, William Debraal, Susan Prado, Cynthia Stanton, and Nathan McCollum. All <br />agreed the County should move forward with the proposed settlement amount. <br />64 <br />