By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

A Lancaster man who suffered multiple permanent injuries while on an archeological dig in 2001 has reached a $4.4 million settlement with the State of New York, ending a lawsuit filed in 2002.

Adam Oleksy was a 20-year-old student at Buffalo State College in 2001 when he traveled with five other students and a professor, William Korth, to Oberlin, Kan., to participate in an archeological dig. While working under a large rock formation that collapsed, Olesky was crushed under falling boulders.

He suffered massive internal injuries, said his attorney, Peter Kooshoian of Rosenthal Siegel & Muenkel LLP.

"All the rocks came down on him and basically broke him in half," Kooshoian said. "Not only did his spine break, he broke his pelvis, his pubic bone and all of his stomach organs were pushed up into his chest."

Though the lawsuit was filed in 2002, Kooshoian, who handled the case with Rosenthal Siegel partner Joseph Muenkel, said before a settlement could be reached, the long-term physical damage and future medical costs his client was likely to face had to be assessed.

"Right now he has two rods inside of him, a cage in his lower back and a plate and four screws holding his pubic bone together," Kooshoian said of Olesky. "Then he's got a pin that holds his lower spine to his pelvis and a pin on the other side holding part of his pelvis together. That's all permanent hardware that is in him."

The suit named Korth and another professor, Stephen Vermette, as defendants. Kooshoian, who has handled the case since its inception, said it was because the accident occurred on a school-sponsored trip that New York state was liable. The settlement was reached March 31.

While he is satisfied with the settlement, Kooshoian said his client, who was planning to be a teacher, was forced to give up that career path because his injuries have left him unable to stand or sit for extended periods of time.

"He was only 20 years old when this happened," he said. "He will be impacted by these injuries for the rest of his life."

Reached in his office at Buffalo State, Vermette declined to comment on the case. Attempts to reach Korth were unsuccessful. He is no longer listed on the Buffalo State College staff directory.

While he is currently listed on the University at Buffalo Web site as a research assistant professor in the geology department, his extension is disconnected and a representative at the university said he previously served as an adjunct professor at the school but that his position had expired and that the department had no forwarding information.