WRSMH attorney David Hoffman obtained a settlement in the amount of $3,250,000 for a 41-year-old construction worker who was injured in an accident when he was caused to fall approximately 10 feet from a metal ladder. The ladder moved, and both the plaintiff and the ladder slid down the wall and fell to the concrete ground, and the ladder landed on top of him.
At the time of his accident, the plaintiff was using one part of an extension ladder as a straight ladder. No one was available to assist the plaintiff and hold the ladder, and there was no place to tie it off and secure it. There were no other devices available for the plaintiff to do his job safely. Defendants claimed that it was the plaintiff himself who decided to use the ladder in this unsafe manner and falsely stated that he was instructed many times never to use one half of an extension ladder in this manner. They drafted an accident report which blamed the entire incident on the plaintiff. David established, however, that this claim was meritless as there was no proof that the plaintiff had been instructed not to use the ladder this way, and there were no other devices available for him to perform his job. David argued that the defendant's witnesses were blatantly lying to protect their employer.
As a result of this accident, the plaintiff suffered serious injuries to his neck, lower back, ankle, shoulder, and knee, which required a cervical and a lumbar spinal fusion and an arthroscopic procedure to the ankle. Defendants argued in vain that the plaintiff only injured his foot in this incident.
David managed to successfully resolve this matter at a mediation before the note of issue was filed.