Accident Attorneys

In Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Nassau County, & Suffolk County

Construction Site Accident Case

This case involves personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff after a Westchester construction site accident while working as a dock builder. On April 22nd, the plaintiff and his co-worker were taking turns on an aluminum ladder, which was placed on a floating vessel and had no skid material on its feet. The workers were knocking out spacer blocks with a sledgehammer about eight or nine rungs up on the ladder, which was provided by the defendant company. Since the ladder was located on the floating vessel, it moved up and down with the movement of the water. At the time of his fall, the plaintiff was about 15 feet above the surface of the float vessel. There were no safety devices in use on site because no such equipment (e.g. safety harnesses, tie lines, life lines, netting) was provided to the plaintiff or his co-worker by the construction company to ensure their safety. The ladder moved up and down and back and forth while propped against the dock being constructed. The movement of the vessel and the fact that the feet of the ladder had no gripping material caused the plaintiff to fall from the ladder, down onto the surface of the float vessel. The fall was witnessed by the plaintiff’s co-worker.

The Workers Compensation Board provided medical and wage loss coverage to the plaintiff, although the coverage was initially disputed by his employer. Once the Workers Compensation coverage was provided, a neuroradiological examination revealed significant injuries. The plaintiff came under the surgical care and treatment of the spinal surgeon at a New York hospital. The spinal surgeon operated on three occasions. He performed an anterior cervical discectomy, fusion and plating at C5/6 and C6/7 in the first surgery. In the second surgery, an L5/S1 lumbar discectomy, decompression, instrumented fusion, and associated transforaminal interbody cage fusion took place. The third procedure was revision cervical spine surgery, which was a two-part, anterior and posterior surgery that involved approximately eight hours in the surgical theater. Plates were removed, discectomy, decompression and plated fusion were performed at C4/5 and posterior instrumented fusion from C4-7 was also performed.

The plaintiff was 34 years old at the time of his fall and he remains totally disabled from his accident. He is married and has four children. Despite the best efforts of his doctor, the plaintiff remains in chronic pain and has been unable to return to work. He is under the care and treatment of a Board-Certified Anesthesiologist, who has continued a course of Duragesic patch medication at the higher daily dose levels. The plaintiff has economic damages approaching six million dollars and non-economic losses involving continuous pain, and impairment as parent and husband.

If you have been in a construction site accident or any type of unsafe building accident and would like to discuss your situation with us, please call or e-mail us today for a free assessment. Our New York construction injury lawyers are here to help. We are located throughout Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Nassau County, and Suffolk County. Call us toll-free at 1-877-ASK4SAM

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Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C.
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