By Elizabeth Ladzinski
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM — A Harlem man who claimed that a New York City Transit bus hit him because it ran a red light has lost his awarded $1.8 million payout because he, in fact, wasn't watching where he was going, according to the New York Post.
The incident occurred in 2003, when the bus slammed into Claude Williams, 72, at the corner of E. 125th Street and Madison Avenue.
Williams claimed that the bus's mirror hit him as the bus driver drove through a red light, but he also acknowledged that he didn't look as he crossed the street, the paper reported.
"Who would step off the curb and into a bus after looking and seeing it coming?" according to the appeals court ruling, as reported by the Post.
Williams was awarded the money in 2009, but the appeals ruling "unconditionally" calls for a new trial.
"[V]ery infrequently, juries sometimes make findings that are utterly without foundation in the law or the evidence. This is one such case," the ruling said, according to the paper.
Williams' lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment from the Post.
