NEW YORK POST, THURSDAY;
JUNE 11, 1998
By ANGELA MOSCONI

Jumbo deal for woman

A woman nearly crushed to death by an elephant on the set of "Live with Regis & Kathie Lee" settled yesterday for $1.65 million.

Yelena Aleynikov, a Russian translator, agreed to the settlement as opening arguments were to start in her Manhattan Civil Court suit stemming from the July 18, 1994, stomping.
Aleynikov, 48, was rammed into a wall in the docking area by Flora, one of four elephants from the Great Moscow Circus, minutes before the show started.

The elephant's owners, the Great Moscow Circus, and booking agent Wessex Productions agreed to the settlement following hours of negotiations. 

ABC, which was also named in the $5 million suit, did not have to pay anything.

The Russian-born Aleynikov; who lives on the Upper East Side, suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs, and a punctured lung after she managed to crawl to safety in the ABC Studios on West 67th Street.  She hasn't been able to work since.

"It's a lot of money, but she would give it back in a second for this accident not to have happened," said her lawyer, Mark Manus, adding that Aleynikov has short-term memory loss.
"This is a woman who never went to a doctor for six years before the accident ... and since then, she's been going from one to the next. It's hard to get this off her mind," he said.

Aleynikov took the stand briefly before Justice Edward Greenfield, fidgeting nervously with her fingers. She fought back tears as she spelled her name for the court.  Aleynikov's lawyers believe the elephant went berserk after its handler "rushed" to change outfits, and Flora tried to follow him.

In court papers, the elephant's handler, Aleksejs Stepanovich, stated, "We think that the cause of this action . . . was that we rushed and removed ourselves. Maybe it caused the elephant to go look for me."

Sheldon Bunin, a lawyer representing ABC, said all parties agreed to the settlement.  "ABC did nothing wrong. They had nothing to pay. It's as simple as that." Bunin said.  He added that the circus and booking agent "were the people who were liable ... because they controlled the elephant."

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