New Jersey Injury Lawyer Blog

An Essex County jury awarded $539,000 on June 8 to an injured worker but cut his award by 25 percent due to comparative negligence. Osualdo Rodriguez was an employee of Jenny Trading Company which was housed in a Newark building undergoing repairs in 2003. A contractor, Luso Air Company, had rented a scissor lift from DNI Rentals Inc of Newark to remove equipment from the roof.

When DNI's driver delivered the lift to the site, he instructed Luso employees to drive the lift up a ramp. Rodriguez, though not a Luso employee, was one of the few workers on site who spoke English and he agreed. As he drove, the lift slid, crushing his right foot.

The jury found DNI 75 percent liable and Rodriguez 25 percent liable on the theory that he should not have been driving. The jury no-caused Luso.

* This information appeared in the New Jersey Law Journal

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

In a closely watched case unfolding in federal court, a jury is being asked to take up an intriguing question that has confounded many medical researchers: Can welding fumes cause neurological diseases such as Parkinson's?

The lawsuit was brought by a former welder who suffers arm tremors and other movement problems that he says could be Parkinson's. Ernest G. Solis, 57, of Corpus Christi, is seeking unspecified damages from four welding rod makers.

It is the first trial among about 3,800 lawsuits from around the country that have been consolidated in federal court in Cleveland. Solis' case could set the ground rules for the other lawsuits.

At issue is whether manganese — a chemical element found in vitamin supplements, tea, nuts and grain, as well as the fumes from burning welding rods — can at high exposures lead to tremors or shaking, poor balance and difficulty walking and swallowing.

Companies that make welding equipment argue that a link between fumes and Parkinson's has not been established, and that in any case, warning labels and welding safety equipment minimize any risk.

~Associated Press

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

On October 7, 2002, Dennis Benson, a 42-year-old mason subcontractor was killed when a 9-foot-deep trench collapsed in Rockaway. Homeowner, Kenneth Masiello and excavator, Robert Robertson granted Benson’s family with $750,000. The two contractors had limited liability because Benson was a self-employed contractor whom was responsible for his own actions as well as being foretold not to enter the trench until the shoring was complete. The settlement was approved by Judge Deanne Wilson on April 21, 2006.
~Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

Three contractors awarded $525,000 to a truck driver who fell while securing a load of construction debris. Othen, the truck driver, was putting up a tarp over debris to be hauled from a demolition site in Staten Island. He fell onto the side of the truck and suffered spinal damage that ended his driving career.

The plaintiff argued that the employer had a policy to overload their trucks to dangerous levels. The defense stated that his injuries were from pre-existing medical conditions and he was responsible for his own fall.
- Henry Gottlieb

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

An electrician accepted a $3 Million on Dec 14 to settle his Essex County suit over career-ending injuries suffered when a tractor-trailer hit his van at the side of a highway. Robert Stevens of Lincoln Park was standing next to the van on the shoulder of Route 3 in East Rutherford on Aug 7, 2002 when the tractor-trailer hit. The impact caused the van to strike Stevens, throwing him over a guard-rail and causing leg, pelvic, shoulder and rib fractures.

Stevens who had been sent by the van's owner, Viacom, to work on roadside billboards underwent several surgeries including the implantation of plates, screws and rods in his legs. Now 65, he has a limited range of motion, has difficulty walking or standing and had to retire.
- Mary P Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

Continue reading "$3M for Work Injury, Electrician" »

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

A contractor paid $800,000 on Nov. 18 in settlement of an Ocean County uit by a worker injured in a two-story fall. Christopher Mansfield was bending back a reinforcement bar on the second floor of a school under construction in Englishtown on Dec. 13, 2000 when the bar snapped. The reaction propelled him backward to the ground.

The plaintiff argued that general contractor GP Parlamas of New Brunswick was liable because it didn't have a guard rail on the open floor or give Mansfield a harness. Mansfield suffered an ankle fracture that required three surgeries and, though he returned to work, he limps and will need less lurative, sedentary work within a few years.

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

An Ocean County jury on Nov 4 ordered the country's second largest wholesale grocer to pay $1.215 million to a former employee fired in violation of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act. According to the plaintiff's lawyer, C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc fired Steven Sommese, a refrigeration mechanic, on Jan 31, 2002 after an explosion of refrigerant during a maintenance operation he was conducting. The company blamed Sommese for the accident, but he alleged that the firing was in retaliation for his complaints to superiors that employees at the company's facilities in Woodbridge and Dayton were dumping used refrigerant gas in violation of federal guidelines.

Those complaints went unheeded. Summese suffered head injuries in the accident and now is unnable to work. The jury awarded $188,000 for lost past wages, $752,000 for lost future wages and $275,000 for emotional distress.
- Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

Continue reading "$1.2M to Injured Whistleblower, Work Injury" »

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

A factory worker who lost an eye and suffered other injuries in an accident settled his Passaic County product liability suit last Monday for $4 million. Hector Valentin was operating a lathe at EC Electroplating in Garfield on Nov 17 2000 when his shirt got caught in the mechanism and he was dragged into contact with its moving parts. He claimed that the machine should have had a safety guard over its spinning face plate.

Valentin lost his left eye and suffered broken facial bones and cognitive impairment and was left with permanent scars on his face and torso. He has not worked since the accident and his broken facial bones preclude implantation of a prosthetic eye.

The settlement will be paid by S&S Machinery of Brooklyn, which imported the lathe from Italy.
- Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

Continue reading "$4M for Workplace Accident, Eye Loss" »

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

Roofer Luis Ortiz, of Trenton, was awarded $2M as compensation for injuries sustained after falling off a house under construction on January 27, 2005.

Ortiz worked for Coffey Brothers Inc. and was working on the King’s Ferry development in West New York. Ortiz was paralyzed after the fall, and had to undergo a spinal fusion and bone graph to take pressure off of his spinal cord. He has not returned to work since and suffers severe pain.

The hearings were on June 28 and June 30, 2005 and the panel found the primary contractor, K. Hovnanian, to be 40 percent responsible and the Coffey brothers each 30 percent responsible thus reducing his award to $1.4 M. The award will be offset $255,000 due to a workers’ compensation lien.
- Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

Continue reading "$2M for Workplace Accident" »

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

A punch press operator who lost all four fingers on both hands in an accident will receive $1.2 million under a structured settlement concluded last Monday. The suit alleged that faulty wiring at Library Bureau Steel Inc. in Vineland caused the press to crash down on employee Malden Homar's hands on May 23, 2001, leaving him with only thumbs.

Homar sued Cincinatti Inc, the manufacturer of the press, Scalfo Electric Inc, a company that performed electrical work on the press, and the plant owner. The suit alleged that Scalfo Electric should have detected faulty wiring. Cincinatti Inc was released as a press more than 50 years ago and the plant owner had made modifications without its knowledge or agreement.

Scalfo Electric's carrier, Zurich US, agreed to settle the case for $900,000. Homar will receive a $35,000 lump sum payment. The remainder will be placed in an annuity, which will be worth $1.2 million over the course of his lifetime. Library Bureau's carrier, the New Jersey Manufacturer's Insurance Co., agreed to reduce Homar's workers' compensation lien to $180,000 from $725,000.

Homar agreed to the settlement, shortly before the case was set to go to trial with Camden County Superior Court Judge Ronald Freeman.
- Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

Continue reading "$1.2M for Industrial Accident" »

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

The Passaic Valley Water Commission paid $1.3M on January 4, 2005 to a former maintenance repair carpenter who claimed he was disabled by exposure to toxic chemicals.

In 2000, Gregg Hunziker was working on a project to modernize equipment in tunnels where Passaic River water is chemically treated and chlorinated for drinking use. His job was to drill through dried sludge, containing toxins and pollutants such as manganese, lead and mercury, but his argument was that of not having the proper protective equipment nor sufficient warning of this danger.

Hunziker started experiencing tremors, loss of grip strength, hand and leg weakness and other neurological effects symptomatic of Parkinson’s disease. He underwent therapy to leach the metals out of his blood and took a disability leave. To this day, he continues to take medication for his Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms.
- Mary P. Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark:

In January 2001, James Cerdes, 27 fell about 20 feet while remodeling a house in Mantoloking and suffered severe brain injuries. Cerdes sued contractor Beachcraft Builders Inc. and a subcontractor, Michael Scully Inc. Selective Insurance Company. The subcontractor’s insurance company covered 75% of the settlement and Highland insurance covered 25%.

The settlement was in the amount of $941,600.
- Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

Posted by Richard Console | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Work Injury

Bookmark: