Union Electrician Sustained Injuries While in an Aerial Boom Lift
WRSMH attorneys Clifford Shapiro and Frank J. Lombardo settled this matter for $2.75 million at private mediation prior to jury selection and commencement of trial. The case was handled through discovery by attorney, William Hepner. Plaintiff, who was 34 years old at the time of the accident, was a Local 3 Electrician installing conduit and brackets under the elevated 7 train rails on Roosevelt Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Queens, NY. The plaintiff was elevated in the basket of an aerial lift when it was struck by a ladder rack situated on top of a work vehicle owned by the Long Island Railroad. The sudden impact caused the basket to “sling shot,” which in turn caused the plaintiff to strike the right side of his head on a steel beam and the right side of his body against the bucket.
The plaintiff sustained a partial thickness tear of the articular surface posteriorly proximal to the insertion of the supraspinatus tendon requiring surgical intervention consisting of a debridement of the superior labrum tear and subacromial decompression. He also sustained mild traumatic brain injury, post-concussion syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder with cognitive deficit symptoms.
Defendants argued that plaintiff caused the accident by lowering the basket without instructing the flagman to stop traffic. They further argued that he did not sustain a brain injury, but if he had, it was resolved. In addition, the defendants produced video surveillance contradicting plaintiff’s physical abilities.