The Perecman Firm, secured a $2,774,367 jury verdict for a worker who was injured in fall after the suspension scaffold he was standing on tilted and collapsed.
The Perecman Firm, represented a client who sustained a fracture of his right hip's intertrochanteric/basi-cervical region.
On Aug. 28, 2003, the plaintiff, a construction worker, worked at a construction site. As he was standing on top of a suspension scaffold that was loaded with building materials, the scaffold tilted and collapsed. He fell about 5 feet and sustained a hip injury.
The plaintiff sued the property's owner. He alleged that the defendant violated the labor law.
The plaintiff claimed that the scaffold could not support the materials and personnel that were required for performance of the job. Plaintiffs' counsel claimed that the incident stemmed from an elevation-related hazard, as defined by Labor Law 240(1), and that the plaintiff was not provided the proper safety equipment that is a requirement of the statute. They moved for pretrial summary judgment of liability.
The defendant contended that it did not exercise any control of the construction, loading or placement of the scaffold. It claimed that the plaintiff was negligent for overloading the scaffold with bricks and mortar and that his negligence was the proximate cause of the scaffold's collapse. The judge granted plaintiffs' counsel's summary judgment motion. The trial addressed damages.
The jury rendered a plaintiffs' verdict. The plaintiffs were awarded a total of $2,774,367.