A Cook County jury awarded $3.4 million to a man who was in a coma for more than two weeks after being shot during a bar fight.
Sean Kelly sued Daniel Gerger, alleging negligent discharge of a firearm and willful and wanton conduct related to a January 2022 altercation that took place at Stadium Sports Club in Rolling Meadows.
The third amended complaint alleged the two men got into a physical fight at the bar which culminated in Gerger shooting Kelly, then 38, in the abdomen.
Brion W. Doherty, Robert J. Napleton and Rory J. Cannon of Napleton & Partners represented Kelly.
The physical altercation was provoked after Kelly attempted to dump a pitcher of water on
Gerger’s female companion. The complaint stated Gerger and the woman were “making a very loud, noisy and obnoxious sound disturbing the peace” prior to the fight.
After being shot, Kelly was in a coma for more than two weeks and required six surgeries to his abdominal area.
Cannon said the legal team primarily argued that Gerger negligently and recklessly brought a gun into the bar and that the level of force during the fight didn’t justify the use of a deadly weapon. He also noted a bar manager was in the process of separating the two men prior to the shooting.
“While there was a physical altercation, it was clear that it was coming to an end,” Cannon said. “Then [Gerger] needlessly escalated it at that point.”
The jury originally awarded Kelly, now 41, $4.6 million, but found he was 25 percent contributorily negligent and reduced the award accordingly.
Judge Thomas V. Lyons II presided over the case.
The case is Kelly v. Gerger, 2022 L 6074.