Result: $12 Million Settlement for Union Worker Injured in Fall From Ladder

The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C., secured a $12,000,000 settlement for a union worker who was injured in a 15-foot fall from a ladder after being struck with an angle iron.

The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C., represented a client who sustained injuries to his skull, brain, shoulder blade, and hand. He underwent multiple surgeries to treat these injuries.

On September 21, 2016, the plaintiff, a union teamster driver hauling demolition debris from a work site, fell approximately 15 feet off a fixed ladder that was attached to the side of a roll away container that was being filled with demolition debris. While the incident was unwitnessed, it is believed that as an excavator was being used to load the container, a large piece of angle iron sprung up and struck the plaintiff, causing him to fall off the ladder.

The plaintiff commenced a lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated New York Labor Law §§200, 240(1), and 241(6). The plaintiff claimed that the defendants failed to provide him with any proper ladders, equipment, or other safety devices to permit him to perform his job at the elevated height of the container. Further, the plaintiff alleged that the defendants violated §241(6) and NY Industrial Code §23-3.4(c)(4) by permitting the plaintiff to remain in the area of the container as demolition equipment (the excavator) was being used.

The defense alleged that the plaintiff was not performing demolition or other work associated with the demolition project at the time of the accident and was thereby not protected by any of the sections of the Labor Law. Moreover, the defense claimed that the plaintiff had been explicitly instructed not to ascend the ladder and was a recalcitrant worker.

Less than two years following the accident and at an unprecedented pace for cases within the Court system, David Perecman, Steven Dorfman, and the attorneys at the firm successfully negotiated a settlement at mediation of $12,000,000.00 plus waiver of a Workers’ Compensation lien of more than $2 million.