Workplace Injury: Ladder Falls
On April 28, 2010, a Manhattan jury awarded $1,669,259 to a plaintiff who was injured after falling from a ladder and fracturing both wrists and injuring his shoulder. The shoulder injury and one wrist fracture required surgery. The 50-year-old laborer was repairing a brick wall on an unsecured ladder when the ladder shifted, causing him to fall approximately 14 feet to the ground below. He was out of work for 4 months after the accident and for an additional 2 months after his shoulder surgery. Finding that the defendant had violated Labor Law section 240(1) by failing to provide the plaintiff with any safety devices, the jury awarded the laborer:
- $69,258.62 for his past lost earnings and medical expenses
- $100,000 for future medical expenses
- $500,000 for past pain and suffering
- $1,000,000 for future pain and suffering
Plaintiff, a 36-year-old laborer, and his wife were awarded $4,370,000 by a Bronx jury on June 1, 2010 for injuries he sustained in a workplace accident in 2005. While installing a rolling gate garage door plaintiff fell 14 feet from an unsecured ladder and landed on a cement floor. Plaintiff proved that the defendant violated Labor Law section 240(1) by failing to provide the plaintiff with any safety devices and failing to secure the ladder.
As a result of the fall, the man fractured his elbow. He required surgical removal of a portion of the radial head, as well as a bulging disc in his spine. He was out of work for over four years, and is permanently unable to do hard manual labor.
The jury awarded the plaintiff:
- $170,000 for past medical expenses
- $250,000 for past lost earnings
- $750,000 for past pain and suffering
- $500,000 for future lost earnings
- $1,000 for future lost earnings
- $1,500 for future pain and suffering and the permanent effect of his injuries.
The jury also awarded $200,000 to the man's wife for the impact her husband's injuries had on her life.
A 23-year-old undocumented worker from Ecuador was awarded $3,118,599.63 from a Queens County jury on October 19, 2010 after a trial for the injuries he sustained in a 10-foot fall from a ladder in 2006. Plaintiff established that the defendant violated Labor Law 240(1) by failing to provide safety devices, such as a secured ladder.
As a result of the fall, plaintiff sustained a fractured ankle and a herniated disc at L5-S1. Both injuries required extensive surgery. Due to his injuries, the worker was unable to return to work in the construction industry or any other manual labor.
The jury awarded the plaintiff:
- $87,360 for past lost earnings
- $198,000 for future lost earnings
- $77,954 for his past medical expenses
- $535,714 for future medical expenses
- $791,000 for his past pain and suffering
- $1,428,571.43 for his future pain and suffering
On June 15, 2009 a Staten Island Jury awarded an undocumented worker $1,830,000 for a fractured leg he sustained in a fall from a ladder in 2007. The plaintiff, a 39-year-old laborer, was on a ladder over 10 feet above ground installing a window when a co-worker climbed the same ladder behind him, causing the ladder to shift and throw the plaintiff to the ground below. Plaintiff established that his employer violated Labor Law 240(1) by failing to provide a safe workplace and failing to secure the ladder and provide safety devices.
Plaintiff's left leg fracture required the insertion of a metal rod and pins and left him with a permanent limp. The jury awarded him:
- $500,000 for past pain and suffering
- $1,060,000 for future pain and suffering
- $240,000.00 for future medical expenses
Job site accident cost negligent landlord $5.5 million when a jury found for an electrician who received an electrical shock while at work and fell from a ladder. The building owner and general contractor were determined to be responsible for the electrician's serious leg fractures and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (a chronic neuropathic pain disorder).
A construction worker received $600,000 after he was injured while working. The ladder the worker was on cracked, causing him to fall to the ground and injure his shoulder and wrist.
Workplace Injury: Scaffolding AccidentS
A settlement of $12 million was concluded in May 2010 for a 30-year-old laborer who sustained traumatic brain injury and multiple orthopedic injuries after scaffolding collapsed and he was struck by cement.
As part of this settlement, reached with the help of the Bronx County Supreme Court, an annuity was set up to provide lifetime benefits to the plaintiff for the rest of his life. Although he had sustained a significant traumatic brain injury, he is still currently able to attend to his daily living activities without the aid of a nurse or guardian.
The 30 year old worked very hard in rehabilitation to reach a level of self-sufficiency. At Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman, P.C., we were all quite proud of the result achieved for this young man.
A 37-year-old undocumented construction worker received a $850,000 settlement during trial. He fell from scaffolding on the job site, fracturing his wrist, pelvis and injuring his back.
Workplace Injury: Unsafe Equipment
After a six-week trial held in Manhattan, a combined verdict of $7.47 million was reached against a company that welded a mixing machine in a cabbage packaging plant in Chinatown. The machine, which was over fifty years old, operated similar to a washing machine and was used to extract water from washed cabbage.
About ten months after it had been welded, the machine came apart during operation and spun around the room, causing serious injury and death to four Mexican workers. Both the welding company and plaintiffs' employer were named as defendants in the case. With the use of experts and engineering principles, as well as the testimony of the workers, our personal injury lawyers were able to demonstrate the progression of the machine's failure, and the defendants' responsibility for it. The jury found that each defendant was liable for the dangerous machine and unsafe working environment it created.
Motor Vehicle Crashes & Pedestrian Accidents
Older woman received $800,000 after motor vehicle accident. The 65-year-old woman had to undergo multiple surgeries on her left leg after it was significantly injured in the car accident.
Bronx jury awarded $1.53 million to the family of an undocumented pedestrian who was crossing a street mid-block when he was struck and killed by a school bus driver. The jury found the bus driver and school bus company 100 percent responsible for the accident and wrongful death of pedestrian, despite the fact that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Pedestrian received $800,000 after being struck by a car while crossing the street. The pedestrian's leg was broken in the accident.
Jury verdict awarded $800,000 to family of a 69-year-old woman who was killed after being run over by a bus owned by New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA). The pedestrian was hit while crossing the street, and dragged almost 35 feet from the crosswalk. There were no witnesses to the accident and the bus operator was unaware that he was involved in an accident and left the scene. Forensic evidence and expert testimony helped establish how the accident occurred. The jury found the bus driver and the NYCTA 100 percent responsible for the accident and the woman's wrongful death, awarding her estate and family $800,000:
- $250,000 for pre-impact terror
- $500,000 for pain and suffering prior to death
- $50,000 for pecuniary loss to the woman's son
Medical Malpractice: Birth Injury
A $1.87 million settlement was reached at the end of trial, during jury deliberations, for a child who sustained nerve injury to her shoulder and arm during birth. When her mother came to the hospital for labor and delivery, the physicians assigned to her care were faced with "shoulder dystocia," a situation where one of the shoulders gets stuck in the pelvis during delivery. When this obstetrical emergency develops, there are standard maneuvers which are used to extract the baby and avoid injury, with varying levels of success.
Testimony by the father as to his observations in the delivery room, testimony by experts, and admissions made by the defendants during trial established that the defendants applied excessive force to the baby's head and neck, thereby injurying the child during birth and causing erb's palsy.
Recovered $2.65 million for a baby born with brain damage as a result of obstetrical mismanagement. The physicians improperly monitored the mother's diabetes and hypertension during pregnancy, and failed to timely perform a caesarian section when it became apparent that the baby wasn't receiving enough oxygen during the labor. The defense claimed that the doctors used proper procedures and that the baby's diagnosis of autism could not be linked to oxygen deprivation at birth. But attorney Evan Goldberg overcame that defense, recovering compensation for the disabled child and her family.
