Attorney Frank J. Lombardo settled this matter prior to jury selection and during a pre-trial mediation. Plaintiff, 32 years old, was a laborer assigned to install concrete pumping hoses when one segment fell from a height, striking him on the shoulder and knocking him to the ground. The court denied summary judgment on the Labor Law §240(1) claim finding a question of fact as to whether the hose should have been secured. The court dismissed the plaintiff’s Labor Law §§ 241(6) and 200 and common law negligence claims.
The plaintiff underwent an arthroscopic repair of the left medial meniscus, a subsequent ACL repair, bilateral shoulder arthroscopic repairs, and an L4-5 discectomy and laminectomy. The defendants contended that the plaintiff’s knee, shoulder, and lumbar injuries resulted from a pre-existing degenerative disease and not caused by the accident and were merely, at best, an aggravation of it. We countered this argument contending that even if the plaintiff had a prior degenerative condition then he was more susceptible to injury and therefore the defendants were responsible for the full value of the injuries.