New York Injury Lawyers Blog

A 44 year-old New York carpenter, Luis Barros, will recover $8 million for injuries sustained after falling 15 feet off of a scaffold on a New Rochelle construction job site. A Bronx jury awarded the plaintiff $18,500,000 but the parties had previously agreed to a high/low agreement whereby the plaintiff's maximum recoverable amount was $8,000,0000.

The theory of the case was that the scaffold was structurally defective. Barros claimed that he sufferd a fracture of an ankle and herniations of three spinal discs. He underwent fusion of a portion of his spine, and he claimed that his injured ankle will require fusion. Liability was decided via summary judgment, but the defense challenged Barros' spinal injuries, suggesting that they were products of degeneration.

Website Resource:

Verdictsearch; March 4, 2010.

A 50 year-old construction worker fell from a 15 foot scaffold while working on a residential construction site in Park Slope, Brooklyn (NYC). The plaintiff was painting an exterior wall of a four-story condominium at the time of the fall. The scaffold's platform collapsed, and he fell approximately 15 feet. He suffered fractures of both heels, as well as other injuries. After the fall, he was transported to New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, where he was found to be in shock.

Plaintiff sued the owner of the premises, its management company, the architect of the project and two subcontractors. He claimed that the scaffold planks were unsecured and did not have a railing. He further alleged that the fall was the result of an elevation-related hazard under Labor Law § 240(1), and that he was not provided the appropriate safety equipment required. The parties negotiated a $2,500,000 pre-trial settlement.

The New York Construction Accident Attorneys of Gallivan & Gallivan provide aggressive representation to construction workers injured on the job, including falls from scaffolds. Please contact us for a free consultation of you have been injured on a construction site.