Scaffolding Accident - Torn Ligaments
The accident in question occurred while the plaintiff was on the roof of a building, and was in the process of setting up anchors to support a suspended scaffold. The scaffold was going to be used by an engineer to inspect brickwork on the exterior of the building. In order to do his work, plaintiff had to run a wire coil over a large building fan. The plaintiff contended, and WRSMH was able to establish during depositions that the building manager was aware of his plans and should have known to shut down the fan. While he was performing his work, the fan turned on and caught the wire coil. The spool then wrapped around the plaintiff’s leg and started to drag him towards the fan. As this was happening, the wire snapped, causing the plaintiff to fall backwards and over a railing. He landed approximately 15 feet below. The defendants engineer vehemently denied that any such conversation with the plaintiff’ took place, and the plaintiff’s supervisor also said he had been instructed not to run the wire over the fan.
As a result of the accident, plaintiff sustained torn ligaments in both knees that required arthroscopic surgery and herniated/bulging discs in his back and neck which required approximately 3 years of physical therapy, but no surgical intervention.
We were able to procure a very significant settlement for the plaintiff, in part, by bringing an engineer to the top of the building and doing a detailed survey of the area. We were able to show that there were other problems with his work area that contributed to the accident even if a jury were to believe that the wire was not supposed to be run on top of the fan. The case was settled for $750,000.00.