The New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm have secured a $1,060,000 settlement on behalf of a construction worker who suffered severe injuries after a scaffold accident. According to court documents, the worker was on a scaffold just moments before the accident and was wearing a harness and rope. However, when the scaffold collapsed, the worker fell and hit the side of the building, which resulted in a number of neck and back injuries.
Our attorneys filed the personal injury lawsuit on behalf of the worker and his wife against the building owner in Bronx Supreme Court. The law firm helped the plaintiff obtain the full $1,000,000 amount that had been set as the insurance limit, as well as an additional sum of $60,000. This settlement is being praised as outstanding and unique, with some of the top New York personal injury lawyers remarking that securing any amount above the insurance limit is “unheard of.”
It’s the Right Thing to Do
New York personal injury lawyer Kenneth A. Wilhelm said that this settlement was a source of immense satisfaction for him and his law firm, and also a source of pride because of how rare it is to get an amount over the insurance limit. After the settlement, Wilhelm said he received a congratulatory message from one of New York State’s top attorneys.
“He mentioned in the letter that he takes his hat off to me for this accomplishment,” Wilhelm said.
Discussing the result, Wilhelm emphasized the need to take the extra step in such cases.
“This is almost unprecedented,” he said. “In this case, other top personal injury lawyers in the state told me I’d never get more than the $1,000,000 policy limit. But, I forced the defendant to pay $60,000 more.” “I fought aggressively here because of the extent and nature of the client’s injuries. He deserves to get this money and all the help that will restore his well-being.”
New York’s Scaffold Laws
According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an estimated 2.3 million construction workers (65 percent of the construction industry) work on scaffolds. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that protecting these workers from scaffold-related accidents may help prevent 60 deaths and 4,500 injuries each year and save U.S. employers $90 million in workdays not lost. In a recent BLS study, 72 percent of workers injured in scaffolding accidents attributed the incident to either the planking or support giving way or to an employee slipping or being struck by a falling object.
Under Section 240 of New York’s Labor Laws, construction workers and laborers who work on scaffolds such as painters, ironworkers, electricians, bricklayers, etc., must be protected. The state’s Scaffolding Law, essentially requires contractors, property owners and their managing agents who erect, demolish, repair, alter, paint or clean a structure to provide a strong and safe scaffold to keep workers safe from falls on the job. Workers must also be provided with fall safety devices on the job such as harnesses, safety nets, toe boards and guardrails.
Compensation for Injured Workers
Scaffolding accidents may result in catastrophic injuries or even fatalities. Workers who fall off a scaffold may suffer devastating head injuries, multiple broken bones or even paralysis as a result of spinal cord trauma. Workers may not be able to return to their jobs for an extended period of time. Some workers who suffer these types of injuries may never be able to return to the jobsite or even earn a future livelihood.
Workers who have been injured in a scaffolding accident can seek workers’ compensation benefits from their employer. In addition, workers can file what is known as a “third-party” claim against parties other than employers or co-employees for significant money damages and have two sources of compensation available for their losses. Examples of third parties include, but are not limited to, general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, managing agents, construction companies etc.
In cases where a worker dies from injuries suffered on the job, surviving family members may seek death benefits through workers’ compensation and/or file a wrongful death claim against a negligent or at-fault third party.
The experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help victims of construction accidents better understand their legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for them. Our law firm recovered $3,375,576 for a construction worker (an undocumented immigrant) who was injured on the job – one of the highest construction case settlements in New York that year.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com