A 48-year-old Tottenville man injured on a school renovation site on Nov. 16, 2009 settled his case for $1.2 million dollars. The man’s knee was injured in the construction accident. He has been unable to work since being hurt.
The company the man was working for was renovating PS 288 in Brooklyn’s Coney Island section. On the date he was injured, the man was fitting heavy plastic to the windows of the school to protect them from other work going on at the site. He was using scaffolding that had been erected to give workers access to the walls. The company was supposed to have ladders in place to allow workers access to the working platforms, but there were none on the side of the building he was working on. This forced the man to use the scaffold frame to climb up to a working platform. During this climb, the man twisted and injured his knee because his foot slipped.
Although he was able to climb down from the platform, the man suffered a torn meniscus in his knee. Surgery to repair the knee failed and required the man to have a total knee replacement. His lawyer says the man saw some improvement as of late. However, he still suffers pain and disability due to the injury and is unable to work.
Cases such as this one show how important workers’ safety laws can be. If the company responsible for the site had provided the necessary safety equipment, the man could still have a functioning knee without having to suffer the pain of knee replacement and surgery. When faced with an injury due to working conditions that were unsafe, it’s important for workers to know that they may be able to recover compensation for their damages. An attorney may be of some help to an injured worker if they decide taking legal action is the right step for their situation.
Source: silive.com, “Staten Island worker settles injury suit for $1.2 million“, Frank Donnelly, July 15, 2013
