Attorney Carmine Goncalves obtained a $2,300,000 settlement for a 38-year-old construction worker from Brazil who fell from an unsecured extension ladder while coming out of an excavation pit. At the time of the accident, the worker was carrying a piece of lumber framing and lost his balance when the ladder shifted, thereby causing him to fall. He was not provided any safety devices that would have permitted him to safely ascend the ladder and simultaneously carry a heavy piece of equipment such as this out of the pit. As a result of the accident, our client suffered injuries to his right knee and back and required two surgeries to the knee and one to the lower back, which also required the placement of hardware.
Carmine produced a video of the excavation, which proved that the ladder was not properly secured. In light of this evidence, the defendants did not even contest this aspect of the case but took the position that the accident did not occur at all because the worker did not report the accident the day it happened. Carmine was able to show that the client was instructed to stay home for five days immediately after the incident, which prevented him from reporting the incident in person, but argued that his employer was well aware of the accident. This was further substantiated by the Workers’ Compensation Board, which accepted his case and found that the worker was in a work-related accident. Carmine was able to resolve the matter at a private mediation.