New York Construction Accident - Carpenter Injury
Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin attorney Carmine Goncalves obtained a $3,300,000 settlement for a then 51-year-old union carpenter. During an overnight shift along the toll-booth lanes outside the Henry Hudson Bridge, the worker stepped into an improperly guarded hole. Beneath a thin sheet of black waterproofing plastic lay an unprotected opening in the ground, completely obscured and made more treacherous by poor lighting conditions. As a result of the fall, the right side of his body dropped several feet into the hole while his left side twisted violently as he fought to keep himself upright.
The defendants quickly attempted to discredit the incident altogether. They insisted no excavation had taken place on the date in question. Because the worker did not immediately file a report and no photographs were taken, they argued the accident was nothing more than a fabrication.
Through persistent investigation and multiple layers of public-record searches, we uncovered photographs taken on and around the date of the incident showing the conditions of the site and ongoing excavation work. We also secured testimony from the plaintiff’s coworker and supervisor who confirmed the fall had occurred. Piece by piece, the defendants’ denials began to collapse.
After extensive litigation, the lower court ruled in Carmine’s favor: the worker had been exposed to a serious fall hazard, and the defendants had failed in their duty to maintain a safe worksite. The defendants protested that additional discovery was needed, but the court found the plaintiff’s evidence that defendants were 100 per cent at fault uncontroverted. They appealed to the First Department, but the appellate court affirmed the decision in full, another rejection of the defendants’ attempt to avoid responsibility.
For the worker, the consequences were life-altering. Years earlier, he had fought through a back injury, surgery, and rehabilitation to return to work. This fall aggravated that injury and caused new and significant damage to his right hip, knee, and ankle. He ultimately underwent six surgeries, including a lumbar fusion with implanted hardware, and later required a spinal cord stimulator to manage persistent, severe pain.
Carmine retained a team of experts who were prepared to show a jury that the worker would never be able to return to his former job and that his lost wages and future medical needs were substantial. Medical experts were ready to testify about the long-term care he would need for the rest of his life.