May 12, 2008 - Bork Settles $1 Million Slip and Fall Lawsuit

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Robert H. Bork, a Supreme Court nominee in the late eighties, settled a $1 million lawsuit Friday against the Yale Club over a fall he suffered while stepping onto a platform to speak.

His lawyer told reporters that the terms of the deal were confidential, but made no further comment.

Bork, 81, sued in federal court in Manhattan last year, claiming that he was badly injured in June 2006 at an event sponsored by the New Criterion magazine. The lawsuit claims that he required surgery because of the fall and that he now walks with a limp. Bork claims that the club should have had stairs or a handrail leading up to the speaking platform.

Lawyers for the Club claimed that Bork was partially at fault for not recognizing open, obvious, and apparent fall hazards.

Bork was nominated for Supreme Court justice in 1987, but the Senate denied his nomination.

The lawsuit alleges that Bork suffered “excruciating pain” after falling backward while attempting to mount the platform, hitting his left leg on the side of the platform and his head on a heating register. After undergoing surgery and physical therapy, Bork still walks with a limp and requires the use of a cane, the lawsuit said.