New York Construction Accident
Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP attorneys Noah Katz and another attorney obtained a settlement of $4,050,000 one day before jury selection in Supreme Court, Queens County, for a 57-year-old construction laborer injured in a disputed liability New York State Labor Law case.
Our client was injured when he was tasked with holding a rope suspending a 150-pound valve. The rope failed, and the valve struck our client and knocked him into a hole behind him. In the course of discovery, our client’s co-worker and field supervisor testified to different versions of the events, in an attempt to dispute that our client was holding a rope or that the valve hit him. In the course of cross-examination at depositions, we demonstrated that all co-workers ultimately gave inconsistent testimony on the work involved, their recollection of the accident location and configuration of the work area, and their individually assigned tasks at the moment of plaintiff’s accident, calling into question their credibility. In addition, we presented our position that the defendants’ expert hired to opine on those conditions involved in plaintiff’s accident set forth opinions on facts unsupported by the evidence and which were otherwise consistent with plaintiff’s testimony as to the layout and configuration of his work area.
As a result of the incident, our client suffered multiple injuries that caused him to undergo surgery to his cervical and lumbar spines and three surgeries to one of his knees.