WRSMH attorney, Cliff Shapiro, obtained an $895,000 recovery, the day prior to jury selection, on behalf of a 50 year old construction worker, who fell approximately 8 feet off a ladder, while doing renovation work at the Palace Hotel in New York City.
The accident was caused when one of the steps of the ladder that the plaintiff was standing on broke. It was unclear whether the step broke on its own, or whether it broke when a falling object struck it.
Prior to trial we obtained summary judgment on the issue of liability pursuant to Labor Law 240(1) by proving that regardless of what caused the ladder to break, it failed to provide proper protection to the plaintiff. The defendants appealed and the Second Department upheld the ruling of the lower Court.
As a result of the accident, plaintiff sustained a comminuted colles fracture of the right wrist with open reduction, internal fixation in addition to other injuries.