Worker Fall off an Unsecured Icy Ramp
Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP attorney Kenneth J. Halperin obtained a settlement in the amount of $875,000 for our client, a 44 year old laborer who fell off an unsecured icy ramp while descending from the first floor of a construction site. The evidence in this case revealed that the defendant set up a withered piece of plywood to act as a ramp for workers to descend from the first floor of the site to ground level. The plywood was not secured, did not have the required side railings and was also icy due to the cold weather and wetness that formed on the plywood. As a result, when our client was descending the ramp, he slipped and fell off. At the conclusion of discovery we were granted summary judgment on the issue of liability pursuant to Labor Law Sect. 240(1).
As a result of the accident our client sustained a fractured elbow, which was treated with a cast and a herniated disc in his lumbar spine that required surgery. Defendants argued that the lumbar spine injury was not related to the accident because our client had several accidents both before and after this accident where he also injured his lumbar spine. They also argued that he did not complain of any back pain for several weeks after this accident and finally that he did not have surgery until approximately three years after the accident.
Despite this we were able to obtain a very favorable settlement for our client during a mediation.