Personal Injury Case Reports - Construction Accident

NATURE OF CASE:

Electrocution

INJURIES ALLEGED:

Post-concussive Syndrome; Chronic Headaches; Burns

NAME OF CASE:

Withheld.

NAME OF MEDIATOR

James Barron, Esq.

AMOUNT OF SETTLEMENT

$200,000.00

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS:

Robert D. Stewart, Debora A. Cancado, PARKER | SCHEER, Boston, Massachusetts

ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANTS:

Withheld.

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION:

The plaintiff, a 36 year-old union carpenter, suffered an electrocution injury while working on a commercial rehabilitation project. He was injured when his nail gun came in contact with a live electrical junction box carrying 480 volts.

Plaintiff contended that prior to beginning work on the day of the accident, he inquired about the status of the electric wires in the work area. He testified that an employee of the electrical subcontractor assured him none of the wires were energized, and that he never would have begun working in the area without knowing this.

Immediately before the accident, the plaintiff was installing metal top track atop a one-man hydraulic lift, and was working in a corner of the room.
Unbeknownst to the plaintiff, there was an energized electric junction box high along the wall where he was working, and he contacted the box while reaching to shoot a nail. 

Three eyewitnesses confirmed that the wires in the room were live at the time of the accident. One, an employee of the electrical subcontractor, admitted to the plaintiff that the wires should have been de-energized at the time of the accident, but that a co-employee had powered them in order to work in another section of the project and neglected to shut them down before the carpenter’s began.

Plaintiff contended that both the general contactor and electrical subcontractor were in violation of OSHA regulations for allowing the carpenters to work in an area of the site where lines were energized.

The Plaintiff suffered debilitating post-concussive headaches more than three and one-years post accident. In addition, the plaintiff suffered a variety of post traumatic disorder commonly associated with electrocution injury that resulted in mild cognitive deficits. 

The defendants’ contended that both the plaintiff and his employer bore some level of responsibility for the accident, and owed a duty of care to their employees as to whether the wires were in fact de-energized. The defendants emphasized that the plaintiff returned to work within five weeks of the accident.

The case settled after one full day of mediation.

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