Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, attorneys Kenneth Halperin and Noah Katz obtained a $2,000,000.00 settlement on behalf of a carpenter who was struck by a single piece of wood while working in an excavation pit. Before the accident, the wood was resting on the ground when an excavator drove by and ran over it. As a result, the wood lifted from the ground and struck the plaintiff in his head and neck. The plaintiff continued to work for a year after the accident, but due to his pain he was forced to stop working.
The plaintiff retained WRSMH after leaving his employment. Ken and Noah were able to show, through deposition testimony and blueprints, that heavy equipment was permitted to operate near a location where workers were storing material, including the wood that struck the plaintiff, and that no safeguards were put in place by the general contractor to prevent heavy equipment from operating near stored material. We also showed that the general contractor did not coordinate the operation of heavy equipment while other trades were performing work in the excavation, which served to counter the defendants’ argument that our client was to blame for causing the accident by placing the wood on the ground and near heavy equipment operation.
As a consequence of the accident, the plaintiff underwent one surgery to his neck, and had not yet returned to work. However, the defendants contended that the plaintiff’s injuries were not caused by the accident or significant, since he continued to work for a year following the accident. Noah and Ken demonstrated, through medical evidence, that the plaintiff was required to work while in pain, until a point where his pain had to be addressed with surgery after having exhausted other forms of treatment. The settlement was reached a year before trial.