Premises Liability - Fall From Ladder
This matter stems from a fall from a ladder while a technician was repairing a satellite dish/satellite system at a Ford dealership in Suffolk County. The plaintiff had been out to the facility as a subcontractor to a satellite dish company. He was requested to go out to the dealership to ascertain the source of the problem and repair it. This took three days. On the last day, he was ascending an interior metal ladder permanently affixed to a wall. This ladder lead to a hatch which lead to the roof where the satellite dish was located. While at the top of the ladder, he attempted to open the hatch by pulling on a lever. When he pulled on the lever, it was not sturdy and it unexpectedly wobbled causing him to lose his balance and fall approximately 15 feet to the floor below. As a result of the fall, he suffered three compression vertebral fractures T12,L1 and L2 and a L4 5 foraminal herniated disk as well as a non displaced fracture of the lateral aspect of the right talar dome which required surgical repair. The plaintiff was forced to abandon his profession and return to his native Turkey in order to live. The matter was settled for $450,000 at a mediation by WRSMH attorney Michael Fitzpatrick.