Kenneth Halperin and Noah Katz, attorneys with Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, obtained a pre-trial settlement in the amount of $750,000 for a non-union laborer who sustained an eye injury when a water pipe exploded during testing. Lost earnings were not a significant factor in the settlement.
The evidence obtained during discovery, through project records and testimony, established that the plaintiff was not provided with appropriate eye protection, and that the project was behind schedule such that the owner, construction manager, and general contractor permitted sheetrock to be installed around the water lines without having completed the testing of the pipe system.
The plaintiff was injured when he was forced to reach through a hole in the sheetrock to perform his testing and a pipe exploded, causing metal and fiberglass particles from the sheetrock to infiltrate his right eye. As a consequence, the plaintiff had to undergo multiple excisions of the particles and had reduced vision in his eye.
The settlement was reached following a single deposition of many defendants, because evidence in our client's favor was obtained through the deposition testimony.