$2,750,000 Settlement for Worker Injured in Fall During Brooklyn Renovation Project

Our client, a 43-year-old laborer, was hired to perform renovation work on the lobby of a senior living facility in Brooklyn. On the date of the accident, our client and his coworkers were provided one 20-foot extension ladder to perform work that required two ladders to do safely. To complete the project, the workers were forced to improperly separate the provided ladder into two sections. As our client stood on the top portion of the ladder, which had no feet, the ladder suddenly slipped from beneath him, causing him to fall to the ground below. As a result of the fall, our client sustained serious injuries to his left shoulder, left knee, and spine. Represented by Partners Stephen Murphy and David Scher, he obtained a $2,750,000 settlement.

 Court and County
Supreme Court, Kings County

 Plaintiff Description
Our client was a 43-year-old laborer and father of five children at the time of the accident.

 Description of Case
This is a Labor Law 240(1) case involving a ladder fall accident that occurred during the renovation of a building lobby at a senior living facility in Brooklyn. On the date of accident, Plaintiff’s employer was tasked with installing two long I-beams (approximately 25 feet long each) to the existing framing of the building’s second story. This was Plaintiff’s first day on the site. Although our client and his coworkers required two ladders to perform the work, his company only brought one 20-foot extension ladder to the project. As such, workers from his company improperly separated the ladder into two sections. After they used a hoist device to raise the first I-beam to the ceiling, Plaintiff climbed one section of the ladder at one end of the beam, while his foreman climbed the other section of ladder at the other end of the beam. Plaintiff was provided the less safe top portion of the ladder, which had no feet and thus was subject to sliding.

While our client was on the eighth rung of the ladder about to start welding, the ladder suddenly slid out from underneath him (away from the wall on which it had been leaning) and he crashed down onto the marble floor below.

 Injuries/Damages
Our client had no prior injuries. After he crashed down to the marble lobby floor from a height of eight feet, he made prompt spine complaints in the Emergency Room later the same day and started a course of treatment that resulted in hundreds of physical therapy sessions, an arthroscopic left knee surgery, multiple spine injections, a cervical spine fusion and a lumbar spine fusion surgery.

As a result of the fall, Plaintiff sustained disc herniations at the C4-7 and L5/S1 levels. Diagnostic tests confirmed a predominant herniation at C6/7 with impingement and an L5/S1 herniation with annular tear. Additionally, our client suffered a medial meniscal tear to his left knee and a partial rotator cuff tear to his left shoulder. Due to his injuries, Plaintiff, who formerly lived a very active lifestyle, can no longer perform any physical labor.

 Settlement Amount
This case settled for $2,750,000.

 Handling Attorneys
This matter was handled by BOM Partners Stephen J. Murphy and David L. Scher.