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Injured skier gets $100,000 Woman was hit in ’97 by skier at Snomass By Tim Mutrie
Aspen Times Staff Writer A Missouri woman seriously injured in a skiing collision at Snowmass two years ago received a $100,000 insurance settlement last week. Linda Martin, of Wildwood, a suburb of St. Louis, was skiing with friends at Snowmass in February 1997 when an out-of-control Jeffrey Unruh, of Lawrence, Kansas, collided with her. Martin suffered a broken leg and ankle, and lacerations, according to her attorney, local Dan Shipp. In January 1999, Martin filed a lawsuit against Unruh, who was covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy through Allstate Insurance Co. “[Allstate] had made us an offer of $75,000 and we rejected it,” Shipp said. Shipp said he countered by offering Allstate’s legal team an offer of judgment, which means Allstate would pay Martin $100,000 – the limit of Unruh’s insurance policy – to settle the case. Had Allstate rejected that offer, the case would have gone to trial and a jury could have awarded Martin whatever amount they deemed suitable, Shipp said. Allstate, and not Unruh, would then have been liable to pay the entire award, he added, because the company declined the offer of judgment. “The liability was clear, Unruh skied into the back of her and broke both her legs,” Shipp said. “But my client wasn’t interested in pursuing Mr. Unruh’s personal assets, just the insurance company.”
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