Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

In a high-risk industry like construction, following correct safety procedures is extremely important. An unsafe work site may not only lead to a construction worker injuring themselves, but could also cause injuries to others. When construction workers cut corners on safety it can have dangerous consequences.

Take for instance the Indiana construction case of John Mazzorana v. Emil Perrotta Co., Inc., 06 L 12451. The 33 year-old plaintiff, John Mazzorana, fell 30 feet after stepping onto an unsupported walking plank. As a result of the fall, Mazzorana ruptured his Achilles tendon and a tendon in his foot and sustained fractures to his left heel and spine.

At the time of the 2006 construction injury, Mazzorana had been working as a bricklayer on the Coffee Creek Center construction project in Chesterton, Indiana. Mazzorana and his fellow bricklayers began work on the project at 7:00 a.m. That same morning, carpenters from Emil Perrotta Co. were also working on the construction project and borrowed some of the bricklayers' scaffolding to assist their work. However, after the carpenters were done, they left an unsupported walking plank in place.

It was this unsupported walking plank that Mazzorana stepped out onto as he returned to work. The unsupported plank gave way, causing Mazzorana to fall 30 feet to the ground. The severity of his injuries required Mazzorana to undergo surgery; however, he still has hardware in his foot. It has been over five years since his construction site injury, yet Mazzorana is still unable to return to work as a bricklayer.

Continue reading "$8 Million Jury Verdict for Bricklayer Who Fell 30 Feet at Construction Site - Mazzorana v. Emil Perrotta Co." »

A Chicago ironworker was unable to convince a Cook County jury that another construction worker was responsible for his construction site accident and injuries. Instead the jury decided in favor of the defendant construction company in Anthony Silva v. O’Sullivan Plumbing, Inc., 06 L 13525, and denied the plaintiff damages for his construction site injury.

Anthony Silva was an ironworker employed by Walsh Construction, a general contracting construction management company. At the time of his 2004 construction injury, Silva was working on the Shoreham Residential project located at 400 E. South Water St. in Chicago. Silva was performing work on a plumbing pipe that was located between two concrete walls that would be used to create the elevator core walls.

At trail, Silva testified that he had followed the required safety protocol by using a tie-wire to tie by the concrete form wall back in order to expose the pipe so that he could work behind the form walls. However, while he was working, the tied-back form wall fell and struck Silva on his back and wrist. He required surgeries for both his cervical disc injury and his wrist injuries.

Continue reading "Jury Finds for Construction Company in Ironworker Injury at Loop High-Rise - Silva v. O'Sullivan Plumbing" »

While most lawsuits are tried in the same state where they occurred, an Indiana construction accident was recently the subject of an Illinois personal injury lawsuit. The Indiana injury was tried in Illinois because one of the defendant's businesses was based out of Illinois. However, to make John Mazzorana v. Berglund Construction Co., et al., No. 06 L 12451, even more unique, although the case was tried in Illinois, the court applied Indiana law.

The personal injury lawsuit was brought by John Mazzorana, an Indiana resident who was working as a bricklayer for Hawk Construction at construction site in Chesterton, Indiana. The 2006 Indiana construction accident occurred after Mazzorana fell 30 feet after stepping on a plank. The Indiana resident ruptured his Achilles tendon and fractured both his heel and a vertebrae.

Berglund Construction Co. was the general contractor for the Indiana construction job and as such was one of the main defendants in the construction accident lawsuit. Bergland Construction was based out of Illinois and so moved to remove the Indiana lawsuit to Illinois courts, a move Mazzorana's attorneys agreed to. However, Berglund then settled its portion of the lawsuit with Mazzorana for $400,000 prior to the start of the Illinois trial. Therefore, the only remaining parties in the Illinois lawsuit were all based out of Indiana.

Continue reading " Bricklayer Who Fell at Construction Site Awarded $8.3 Million; Mazzorana v. Emil Perrotta Co." »

A Chicago jury awarded $850,000 to a Chicago construction employee who suffered severe injuries after falling from his work on elevated train tracks. The personal injury verdict in Raul Luna et al. v. Chicago Transit Authority, Kiewit Western Co., Divane Brothers Electric Co., et al., No. 07 L 12550, came despite evidence that suggested the employee was injured because he violated some of the construction site's safety requirements.

Raul Luna was an industrial painter employed by SCI Coatings, LLC. At the time of his construction site accident, Luna was working on Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) elevated railroad tracks as part of the CTA's Chicago Loop renovation project. Luna was brought in to help sandblast and paint columns on the Van Buren St. train tracks between State St. and Wabash Ave. Because the train tracks were elevated, workers were using a manlift to reach the above ground areas. This essentially involved workers securing themselves using a harness-like device in order to prevent them from falling in the event that they slipped while working above ground.

In addition to his painting duties, Luna was also responsible of removing the construction site's containment structure, which was constructed of tarps and wood two-by-fours. In order to reach the top of containment structure, Luna used the manlift as required by the job's safety requirements. Luna proceeded to remove the nails from the two-by-fours in order to break down the containment structure. However, at some point Luna untied himself from the manlift, exited its basket area, and began to crawl across the elevated tracks.

It was while crawly unprotected across the tracks that Luna fell; one of the two-by-fours broke as Luna was removing a nail, sending him falling to the street below. Luna sustained an epidural hematoma, a comminuted displaced wrist fracture, and a comminuted fibula fracture. The fibula fracture required an internal fixation surgery so that Luna's bones would heal properly. In addition, Luna suffered from a traumatic brain injury, which left him with cognitive, psychological, and behavioral deficits following his construction site injury.

Continue reading "$850,000 Jury Award for Painter Who Falls From Elevated Train Tracks - Luna v. Chicago Transit Authority" »

A recent Appellate Court decision clarified the degree to which Illinois homeowners owe a duty to guests on their property. The court upheld a Cook County verdict that found the defendant homeowner liable for the injuries the plaintiff sustained after falling down a stairwell at the defendant's home. Donald Van Gelderen et al. v. David Hokin, No. 1-09-3152.

The plaintiff, Donald Van Gelderen, had been installing window coverings at defendant David Hokin's Glencoe home. After finishing the window installation, Van Gelderen went to exit the residence by way of a side stairwell, the same stairwell he had used upon entering the home. However, the second time did not pass without incident. As he opened the door to exit, Hokin fell down the basement stairs located to the right of the door.

Van Gelderen filed a premise liability lawsuit against Hokin, in which he alleged that the layout of the stairwell and the side door was unreasonably dangerous and it was this dangerous condition which was the cause of Hokin's fall. The exterior door handle was located on the left side of the door, which then swung inward to the right. As he exited, Van Gelderen grabbed the door handle with his right hand and then stepped backwards to avoid the door's path as it opened. However, as he did so, Van Gelderen stepped towards the basement stairwell, which was located to the right off of the outside entrance, and fell down the flight of stairs.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Affirms Jury's $3 Million Damages Award for Stairwell Fall; Van Gelderen v. Hokin" »

A Chicago jury entered a $3 million jury verdict against a forklift manufacturer in an Illinois product liability lawsuit. The Chicago lawsuit arose out of a work injury involving 35 year-old Keith Price and a forklift designed and manufactured by Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc. As a result of the Chicago work injury, Price was left with an amputated right leg and was unable to work for over five years. Keith Price v. Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc., Voss Equipment, Inc., 06 L 12915.

The work injury occurred in February 2005 at a Chicago plant of ICI Uniqema, where Price was employed as a forklift operator. On the date of the work injury, Price was using a forklift to load a bag of spent nickel into a nearby hopper. However, as Price attempted to the bag into the hopper, it became caught on another bag. Price then needed to use a chain to readjust the position of the spent nickel bag. These chains were still attached when Price lifted the forks above the bag, at which point the forklift tipped over onto its side.

While Price was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the forklift accident, the seat itself was not properly attached to the forklift. As a result, the seat Price was sitting on rolled forward as the forklift moved. Price's legs did not remain inside the vehicle and were crushed underneath the forklift. The weight of the large machine caused severe crushing injuries to his right leg, necessitating a below the knee amputation. In addition, Price sustained facial fractures to his jaw and lost four of his teeth.

Continue reading "$3 Million Verdict for Leg Amputation in Forklift Mishap - Price v. Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc." »

In the Cook County personal injury case of Wayne C. Bland and Suzanne Bland v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., 07 L 1633, a company takes responsibility for the negligence of one of its employees. The worker at the Citgo Petroleum Corp.'s Lemont plant left a piping system valve open, thereby releasing hydrofluoric gas into the surrounding areas. The cloud of noxious gases left another man hospitalized and led to the filing of this work injury lawsuit.

The 41 year-old plaintiff, Wayne Bland, was working as a crane operator for Imperial Crane at the time of his work injury. After breathing in the dangerous gas, Bland required a six day hospitalization due to the respiratory damage caused by the toxic gas. Bland was diagnosed with acute respiratory tract damage, which presented as a general chest tightness and a persistent cough. While Bland's symptoms lasted for several months, his medical providers were unable to find any significant respiratory problems.

Because Bland was not employed by Citgo, it would not be responsible for paying any workers' compensation he received as a result of his work injury. However, its employee was the cause of Bland's accident, so by association Citgo was also at fault for Bland's injury. Therefore, Bland brought a lawsuit against Citgo which accused the petroleum company of being responsible for its employee's negligence in leaving the pipe valve open and for causing Bland's subsequent injuries.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $403,000 to Worker Exposed to Toxic Gas at Citgo Refinery - Bland v. Citgo " »

A Central Illinois product liability lawsuit springing from a construction site injury returned the highest verdict in Tazewell County history. The Illinois jury awarded $13.5 million to the twenty-some year-old plaintiff who suffered a traumatic leg amputation; Justin Stone v. MiTek Industries and Central Illinois Truss, Inc., 10th Judicial Circuit, Tazewell County, Illinois (2011).

At the time of his work injury, 19 year-old Dustin Stone was working on a machine building roof trusses, or roof rafters, which are the triangle supports used to build roofs in homes. The roof truss machine consisted of several different work tables spread out over the length of the 100 ft. long machine. Stone was adding support to the wood trusses by hammering metal plates into the various truss joints.

Stone was standing between two opposite-facing machine tables when another truss operator drove a crane gantry toward the area where Stone was working. Protocol requires the gantry operator to first make sure the aisles are clear of workers; however, this was obviously not done on the date of Stone's construction site injury. The gantry pinned Stone against a metal rail, crushing his left femur so severely that he required an above the knee amputation of his left leg.

Continue reading "Illinois Construction Worker Receives $13.5 Million Verdict for Machine's Design Defect - Stone v. MiTek Industries" »

A construction job site can be a confusing place. Not only is there the obvious confusion created by the construction itself, but the different levels of workers and managers further complicates matters. The tangled web of responsibility and liability on construction job sites becomes evident in the wake of a construction site injury, as lawyers sit down and try to determine whose to blame.

Consider the Illinois personal injury case of Piotr Mieszkowski v. Patel Builders Inc., Divyadeep Patel v. Illinois Brick Layers Inc., 08 L 4113. Piotr Mieszkowski was working as a brick layer at a job in South Barrington, a northwest suburb of Chicago. While at the construction site, the twenty-nine year-old Mieszkowski was being supervised by his boss from Illinois Brick Layers, Inc. Mieszkowski spent the majority of the morning working on building large stone columns and railings at the Barrington residence.

However, problems arose when Mieszkowski's boss left the construction site. While his direct supervisor was away, the construction job's general contractor asked Mieszkowski and his co-worker to help empty a large storage container. It was while performing this task, which had nothing to do with his actual job at the construction site, that Mieszkowski became injured. A large, heavy box fell on his ankle as he was emptying the storage container. Mieszkowski suffered a severe ankle fracture and needed to undergo an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) surgery during which pins and rods were placed in his ankle to fix the fractured bone in place.

Continue reading "Cook County Brick Layer Injured, Multiple Parties Blamed - Mieszkowski v. Patel Builders, Inc., et al." »

Summertime in Chicago is synonymous with construction - every Chicago resident is familiar with the site of orange cones, torn up pavement, and workers flagging cars through the construction zone. And while construction season means longer commutes for Chicagoans and increased traffic delays, it also means risker job conditions for many construction workers and more construction site injuries. The Chicago personal injury lawsuit of Donald Martinelli and Annette Martinelli v. City of Chicago, 06 L 11846, is an example of the dangers of construction work.

In 2002, 52 year-old Donald Martinelli and his co-worker were marking the location of underground telephone cables at a street construction project. While Martinelli and his coworker were SBC Communications employees, the construction site was run and managed by the City of Chicago. Martinelli was marking the cables' locations at the City's request.

At the same time this was happening, Oscar Soto was driving his car through the road construction site. When Soto realized the City of Chicago's construction equipment was blocking his lane of traffic, he made a decision to veer into the oncoming lane of traffic. However, Soto was eventually forced back into his lane by an oncoming vehicle, causing him to run into one of the SBC vans parked on the side of the road.

At the time of the Chicago car accident, Martinelli had finished marking the cable lines and was standing at the back of his SBC van. Martinelli became pinned against the back of his van and suffered a traumatic amputation of his left leg. The above the knee amputation required future medical expenses and resulted in lost wages due to Martinelli's inability to perform the same type of job duties. Martinelli brought a personal injury claim against Soto and the City of Chicago for the loss of his leg and livelihood, while his wife brought a loss of consortium claim against both parties for the loss of companionship and household assistance.

Continue reading "$6.95 Million Jury Verdict, Road Construction Injury to Worker Loses Leg, Struck by Car; Martinelli v. City of Chicago" »

Construction negligence lawsuits can be somewhat confusing insofar as there are typically several entities involved: the general contractor, the project manager, subcontractor, etc. Oftentimes when plaintiffs file a lawsuit following a construction site injury, there is a lot of finger pointing by the defense, so it is crucial that the plaintiff's attorneys have a clear understanding of who each party is and what their role was on the construction job.

In the construction negligence case of The Estate of John Maggi, etc. v. RAS Development, Inc., No. 1-09-1955, the defendant tried to get the $3.2 million verdict overturned by claiming that the plaintiff had sued the wrong entity. In Maggi, the plaintiff's attorney filed a lawsuit against the construction site's general contractor. In its initial complaint the plaintiff identified the general contractor as RAS Wolfram.

The Chicago construction negligence complaint alleged that as the general contractor, that RAS Wolfram was negligent for its failure to provide a safe workplace and inadequately supervising the work of its subcontractors. The decedent, John Maggi, died after falling three stories through an unprotected window. The fall was prompted after the bundle of bricks Maggi was carrying broke apart, causing him to lose his balance and fall through the open window.

Continue reading "$3.2 Million Verdict in Chicago Construction Death Trial Affirmed by Illinois Appellate Court in Maggi v. RAS Development, Inc." »

An Illinois jury entered the highest Cook County verdict award for an adult fracture injury, awarding $1.9 million in Todd D. Smart v. City of Chicago, No. 07 L 14089. The Cook County personal injury verdict was substantially higher than both the plaintiff's $500,000 demand to settle and the City of Chicago's $100,000 settlement offer. According to a representative from the City's law department, the City of Chicago plans to appeal the verdict in the First District Appellate Court.

The Illinois personal injury lawsuit arose out of a bicycle accident involving the 43 year-old plaintiff, Todd Smart. In 2007, Smart was riding his bicycle in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, near the intersection of Cortland St. and Marcy St., when he hit a road depression. At the time of the bike accident, the City of Chicago was performing road construction, leaving the road uneven at the time.

Smart was thrown forward over his handlebars as his bicycle came to a sudden stop. As a result of the bicycle accident, Smart suffered from a dislocated shoulder and sustained comminuted bone fractures. Prior to the bicycle accident, Smart led a fairly active lifestyle - not only was he the president of BeTuitive Publishing, but was also a former triathlon competitor.

Continue reading "Chicago Bike Injury Results in $1.9 Million Cook County Jury Verdict for Shoulder Fracture - Smart v. City of Chicago" »

As Chicago nears summer construction season, it becomes increasingly important for Chicago construction employees to practice good workplace safety. Unlike an office job, working construction provides numerous opportunities for accidents to occur. The Illinois personal injury lawsuit of James Zdanwic v. Gatwood Crane Service, Inc., 07 L 9570, is one such example.

In 2006, the plaintiff, James Zdanwic, was working as a tower technician for MDM construction. At the time of the Illinois construction site injury, Zdanwic was working on a job that involved retrofitting a cell tower in Medinah Illinois. The job required a crane, which was leased through Gatewood Crane Service, Inc.

While the Gatewood crane was being operated by a Gatewood Crane Service employee, Zdanwic was assisting the crane operator in the task of pulling out a 1,000 lb. jib. A jib crane is similar to a sailboat boom in that it swings from one side to the other. This 1,000 lbs. fell directly onto of the plaintiff, resulting in severe injuries. In fact, because of the severity of his injuries, Zdanwic has not been able to return to his position as a tower technician, although his employer was able to find him an alternative position as a construction project manager.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Injury Results in $423,242 Jury Verdict for Crane Accident - Zdanwic v. Gatwood Crane Service" »

A Cook County jury has entered its verdict for a Chicago ironworker who tripped over demolition debris at a construction site. The plaintiff, 52 year-old Robert Petrouski, was performing ironwork on a bridge that was being demolished by the defendant, Bradenburg Industrial Service Co. when he was injured. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff and entered a verdict of $436,000 against the defendant in Robert Petrouski v. Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., 06 L-10628.

On October 11, 2004, Mr. Petrouski, a journeyman ironworker, was working below the bridge deck that the Brandenburg employees were demolishing. Mr. Petrouski was carrying equipment to perform his construction job when he tripped over a piece of demolition debris. As a result of his Chicago construction site injury, Petrouski suffered a lumbar disc herniation and a fragmentation of his disc.

While Petrouski contended that the debris he tripped on was left in his work area by Brandenburg's demolition crew, the demolition company denied that it was performing work above that area. Furthermore, Brandenburg went on to allege that the debris which caused Petrouski's fall was in fact left in the area by another company.

Continue reading "Chicago Iron Worker Injured – Construction Site Injury Receives $436,000 Verdict - Petrouski v. Brandenburg Industrial Service Co." »

A Cook County, Illinois jury returned a $6.3 million verdict in an Illinois wrongful death case where a 57 year –old electrician died after he was electrocuted and burned in an electrical explosion while working at the Chicago Transit Authority Brown Line substation in 2006.

Charles Ingolia was working under the defendant Target Electric which was serving as the subcontractor overseeing the electrical phase of the project involving the addition of a new rectifier system to power the CTA Brown Line trains and the renovation of the substation near 3360 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Ingolia survived two days after the explosion and then passed away.

At the trial in Estate of Charles R. Ingolia v. CTA, et al., 06 L 013106, the family’s lawyers argued that the subcontractor overseeing the electrical phase of the project were responsible for Mr. Ingolia’s injuries and wrongful death. It was also contended that Mr. Ingolia was inadequately instructed on how to clean the new electrical system because it was “going to” be energized. The estate alleged that Target Electric sent the electrician into a 12,600 volt switchgear cabinet without informing him that a portion of the electrical equipment had been energized.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Accident Verdict Awards $6.3 Million Against Subcontractor for Death of Electrician in Estate of Ingolia v. CTA, et al." »

A Cook County verdict was handed down on an Illinois personal injury and wrongful death claim involving a father and son who were both injured in the same Illinois construction site accident. The Illinois wrongful death claim was filed on behalf of the father, Herman Calloway, Sr., who was killed instantly at the construction site, ; Estate of Herman Calloway, Sr. v. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc., No. 05 L 8589, while the straight personal injury claim was filed on behalf of the son, Herman Calloway, Jr., who suffered permanent disabling injuries as a result of the construction site injury, Herman Calloway, Jr. v. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc., No. 06 L 2005. The jury found in favor of both plaintiffs for a total of $8.5 million in damages for both claims.

The Illinois construction site accident occurred in 2005, when both Calloway, Sr. and Calloway, Jr. were attempting to locate an electrical line at a construction site at Warrenville South High School. At the time, the Calloways were working in a trench that had been dug in order to allow them to locate the electrical line. Typically, when construction workers dig a trench they use a trench box to support it. A trench box is a metal box that construction workers use to prevent workers from trench cave-ins. Without the trench box there is no support to the walls of the trench and nothing to prevent the trench from caving in.

However, the area where the Calloways were working contained pre-existing manholes, the location of which prevented the construction workers from using the trench boxes. The construction workers did make an attempt to use the trench box, but had to remove it after discovering that the box would not fit. Instead of stopping the job while they worked to find an alternate solution, the job superintendant informed the crew that they still needed to locate the electrical line in that area.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Site Accident Leads to $8.5 Million Verdict for Two Injured Construction Workers - Calloway Jr. and Calloway Sr. v. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc." »

Chicago construction site accidents are fairly common considering the heightened risk of working at a construction site versus at a desk job. And while some of these construction accidents can be considered part of the every day routine of doing construction work, when an Illinois construction accident is the result of negligence on the part of a company or fellow employee, then an Illinois personal injury claim can be brought.

The case of Aguilera v. FHP Techtonics Corporation is an example of a situation where the Chicago construction site accident was the result of a company's negligence, in this case the general contractor of the job. Thirty-seven year-old David Aguilera was severely injured when he fell through an elevator shaft during the demolition of a building during the Chicago Transit Authority's expansion project for the system's Brown Line project.

Aguilera had opened the door of a freight elevator while working on the project, which opened despite there not being an elevator waiting. Aguilera fell some twenty feet through the open elevator shaft, and sustained a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament tears in his knee, along with a concussion and lower back strain.

Continue reading "Chicago Construction Site Injury Involving Elevator Shaft Fall Leads to Verdict Against General Contractor - Aguilera v. FHP Techtonics Corporation" »

A 51 year-old union carpenter fell from a ladder at the construction site at 1111 S. State Street in Chicago on May 12, 2004, severely injuring his head and neck as a result of the Chicago construction site accident. The plaintiff, James Conwell was carrying a doorway header beam on a ladder that gave way. Although Mr. Conwell weighed about 220 pounds, the ladder was designed to safely hold a capacity of up to 225 pounds. The weight of the beam Conwell was carrying was about 100 pounds.

The fall at the Chicago construction site caused the beam to strike the back of the plaintiff's head and neck, causing a seven-inch gash below his right ear. The gash opened his jugular vein. After extensive surgery to repair the laceration, plaintiff continued to experience aura migraines, neck pain, tinnitus or ringing in his ears, severe hypersensitivity to sounds and cognitive deficits.

The ensuing personal injury lawsuit ended in a jury trial which resulted in a verdict of $1.47 million in favor of the plaintiff, Mr. Conwell. Mr. Conwell work at the site for Kole Construction, a carpentry subcontractor. The defendant in the case was the general contractor, McHugh Construction Co.

Continue reading "Chicago Carpenter Injured In Fall At Construction Site Receives $1.47 Million Verdict - Conwell v. James McHugh Construction" »

In a second Illinois Supreme Court opinion regarding this case, the court handed down its opinion in Ready v. United/Goedecke, Inc., No. 108910, an important case distinguishing fault apportionment.

The court’s first opinion, Ready I, held that Illinois Code of Civil Procedure Section 2-1117 did not permit the apportionment of fault to defendants who had already settled in the Illinois wrongful death case. Following that Supreme Court decision (Ready I), the case was remanded to the Illinois Appellate Court to consider the defendant’s sole proximate cause defense. The appellate court decided that the lower court had erred in refusing to admit evidence of the conduct of the settling defendants. However, the Illinois Appellate Court did not reach the issue of defendant’s entitlement to a jury instruction on the point.

In this opinion, Ready II, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that the Circuit Court of Cook County was wrong both in excluding the evidence of the actions of the settled defendant, but also it erred in refusing to instruct the jury on sole proximate cause by not giving the second paragraph of Illinois Pattern Instruction, 12.04.

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Wrongful Death Verdict, $8.13 Million – Ready v. United/Goedecke, Inc." »

A Cook County jury has determined that the company engaging a torch-cutter is responsible for worker's wrongful death. The jury verdict was $734,400. Fernando Corral, age 51, was working as a torch-cutter at Mervis Industries, Inc. cutting a portion of a single-deck rail car when a piece of steel fell on him causing his wrongful death. He was survived by his wife and four children.

The family of Mr. Corral brought an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit alleging that the defendant company, Mervis, chose not to make the area where Mr. Corral was working safe, that it should have recognized the hazards involved in torch-cutting work and guarded against those hazards.

The Illinois wrongful death case had a complicated past. A motion for summary judgment was first granted by a trial judge indicating that Mervis did not owe a duty to Corral because he was working for an independent contractor at the time of this incident.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Jury Verdict of $734,400 Awarded for Worker Killed During Torch Cutting of Rail Car" »

A Cook County jury verdict was affirmed by the Appellate Court, resulting in an $8.3 million award to the surviving spouse of a construction worker who died in a Chicago construction site accident. The court found that the defenses' claims of an unfair trial and of unreasonable compensation were unfounded and affirmed the Illinois jury's decision in Colella v. JMS Trucking Company of IL, Inc., et al., No. 1-08-1072.

The Illinois construction site accident occurred when the decedent was struck by a JMS Trucking dump truck driven by defendant Samuel Inendino. At the time of the accident the decedent was working at removing water from the area around a newly installed water main. At the jury trial the decedent was found to have contributed 10 percent to his own accident, while the defendants JMS Trucking and Inendino were 90 percent negligent.

While defendant JMS Trucking had attempted to bring the decedent's employer into the construction site injury lawsuit as a third party defendant, the jury did not find the decedent's employer, Benchmark Construction Company. On appeal, JMS Trucking argued that the Benchmark's liability in the decedent's accident and death was so obvious that it should have been reflected in the jury verdict. However, the appellate court did not agree and let the jury's ruling regarding the third-party defendant stand.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Accident Jury Verdict Upheld on Appeal - Colella v. JMS Trucking Company of IL, Inc., et al." »

A $6.25 million settlement was reached in an Illinois work site injury lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County for a roofing accident that occurred at a Chicago South Side Metra facility, Luis Vasquez, et al., v. Walsh Construction Company, et al., No. 04 L 011387. The construction site injury lawsuit was brought by a Chicago roofer who fell 20 feet to a concrete floor while replacing concrete panel roofing tiles. The Cook County case was filed against Metra and several other contractors whom the plaintiff contended were liable for his injuries.

As a result of his fall, the roofer suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, fractured his wrist, herniated several discs in his spine, tore his knee cartilage, and sprained his ankle. The Chicago construction site accident occurred in 2004 and the plaintiff has not been able to return to work. Prior to the accident he had been a union roofer for over 30 years.

Like many construction site accident lawsuits, in Vasquez the plaintiffs alleged that multiple defendants played a role in the resulting injury. Metra was involved in the lawsuit because it owned the Chicago facility where the construction site accident occurred. Metra had contracted its tile replacement project to Walsh Construction Co., who was then responsible for overseeing the roof maintenance. Walsh in turn sub-contracted the labor to Knickerbocker Roofing and Paving Co., who was the plaintiff's employer and would later be added to the case as a third-party defendant. Consoer Townsend Environdyne (CTE Inc.) was the site engineer of the roofing project while Cotter Consulting was responsible for determining which roofing panels needed to be replaced.

Continue reading "Chicago Roofing Accident Settlement Reached With Metra and Other Defendants" »

The Illinois Supreme Court is in the process of reviewing an Illinois wrongful death case involving a construction worker who fell to his death from a scaffold. The case of Ready v. United/Goedecke Services, Inc., No. 108910 had already been reviewed by the Illinois Supreme Court and remanded to the Appellate Court. However, Ready returned to the Illinois Supreme Court for review after the Illinois Appellate Court disregarded the higher court's mandate.

In Ready, the Illinois wrongful death claim was brought by the construction worker's widow against the owner of the plant where decedent was working, the general contractor for the construction job, and a scaffolding subcontractor. Prior to the 2003 Cook County trial both the plant owner and the general contractor settled with the decedent's widow regarding the Illinois construction site injury.

However, the scaffolding contractor elected to go to trial where a $14 million verdict was entered in favor of decedent's estate. The jury did find that the plaintiff-decedent contributed to his own fall, valuing his contributory-negligence for the construction site injury at 35%. Therefore, since the plaintiff-decedent was 35% responsible, the $14 million verdict was reduced by 35%, or $4.2 million. The verdict was further reduced by the value of the settlements already secured by plaintiff so that in the end the verdict was reduced by almost $8 million.

Continue reading "Scaffolding Death of Construction Worker Case Reviewed By Illinois Supreme Court For Sole Proximate Cause" »

In 2002, a mother and her teenage daughter were living in a rented home. One night, the high school junior returned home at 10:30 pm and noticed a faint order when she walked into the residence, but she didn’t identify it as natural gas because she didn’t know what natural gas smelled like.

On the following morning, the mother woke up about 6:30 am and smelled what she thought was natural gas. Her daughter recognized the odor as the same she had detected the night before but the smell had grown much stronger. The mother called 911, but the gas explosion occurred immediately after that call was made. The mother and daughter were severely injured.

The plaintiffs sued the owner and general manager of the duplex where they lived as well as the plumbing company that had installed the gas piping. It was alleged by the plaintiffs that the interior gas piping had been installed negligently and caused the explosion.

After the lawsuit had been filed, the plaintiffs added gas utility, Northern Illinois Gas as a defendant. The plaintiff settled with the building owner and general manager as well as the plumbing company. They proceeded against Northern Illinois Gas who they alleged was negligent in that the company failed to inspect its work and warn the plaintiffs.

Continue reading "Illinois Gas Company Held Not Responsible In Gas Explosion" »

Illinois construction companies have an obligation to provide a safe work environment for their employees and do what they can to avoid Illinois construction site accidents. Because of this duty on the part of construction companies, Illinois construction workers can generally assume that the equipment and materials at a construction site are safe and hazard-free.

However, sometimes this is not the reality, in which case an Illinois construction site injury can result from the failure of a construction company to provide a safe and healthy work environment. Consider the case of Diaz v. Archer Daniels Midland Company, 07 L 142 (Ill., Macon County), in which a 26 year-old construction worker was fatally injured as a result of an Illinois construction site accident.

At the time of his Illinois construction site injury, Francisco Garcia was working for a contractor who had been hired to perform work at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Bioproducts plant. Garcia was busy insulating pipes 15 feet in the air while harnessed to a scissors lift. While Garcia was working, a nearby waste compression system over-pressurized, spraying him with scalding steam, toxic chemicals and boiling water.

Continue reading "Illinois Chemical Accident at Construction Site Leads to Worker's Death: Illinois Jury Finds For Worker's Estate" »

Cook County construction workers face dangerous on the job conditions that your typical office employee does not encounter. And even with the best safety measures in place, sometimes construction site accidents happen. But in those situations where proper precautions were not taken by the construction company, there may be cause for a Cook County workers' compensation claim.

A recent Cook County verdict illustrates such a situation. The case involved a 20 year-old construction worker who sustained a broken femur and a back injury after a fall from a scaffold while working as a construction laborer on a project at a public library in Mt. Prospect, Illinois.

At the time of the Cook County construction site injury, the construction worker was on a scaffold assisting bricklayers when he tripped over plastic wrap that had been placed to protect the construction project during the winter months. The worker tumbled through an opening in the scaffold and fell about 30 feet. In addition to his broken femur, he sustained a herniated disk in his lower back which later required multiple surgeries.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Site Injury Lawsuit Receives Verdict for Plaintiff Who Was Injured Falling From Scaffold" »

An Illinois jury awarded $2.84 Million to a painter who fractured his heel after falling approximately 15 feet while working at a construction site. His injury required multiple surgeries, resulting in a long period of time off of work and a hefty medical bill.

The painter had been working on a lift at a school in Hanover when the Illinois construction site accident occurred. The plaintiff sued Hoffman Corporation, the general contractor overseeing the construction job, claiming that Hoffman was in charge of the job site safety.

Plaintiff claimed that his injury was of an alleged lack of a front guardrail on the lift he was working on and that Hoffman permitted workers to use those lifts without the guardrail. And while the jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the verdict of $2.84 million was reduced to $1.8 million after accounting for comparative negligence.

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A 41 year old construction worker died when he fell through the elevator shaft of a Chicago Loop building project. The man, a carpenter by trade, was working on a tenant build-out on the 11th floor of the high-rise building when the Chicago construction site accident occurred.

It was alleged in the plaintiffs' complaint that the building owners were negligent in violating several Illinois safety laws. In addition to failing to maintain the elevator safely or conduct basic inspections of the elevator, the lawsuit filed claimed that the building owner violated Cook County building codes preventing interlocking doors from opening unless the elevator car was present.

It was claimed that the freight elevator where the worker died was antiquated. An example given was that the doors would open while the elevator car was on a different floor. This fact played a large role in this man's wrongful death because he apparently opened the elevator doors only to discover that the elevator car was actually more than 100 feet below. The worker had intended to enter and operate the elevator, but its absence led to his death.

The Chicago construction worker was survived by his wife and three young children. The case was settled before trial with the assistance of a Cook County Circuit Court judge. Issues of apportionment and contribution are pending between the owner, general contractors, maintenance companies and employer of the deceased.

Continue reading "Chicago Construction Worker Falls to His Death: Surviving Family Recovers $10 Million" »

Recently a settlement was reached in an Chicago construction injury case that resulted in a man’s death. The $2.6 million settlement was awarded to the family of a man who’d been struck and killed by a steel pylon that had fallen from a crane. At the time the man was working at an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) project located on the Kingery/Borman Expressway.

While the man was working for the IDOT the incident actually occurred in Indiana, just over the Illinois-Indian border. Because the injury took place in Indiana the defendant attorneys asked the Circuit Court of Cook County to apply Indiana law instead of Illinois law, specifically where it relates to a $300,000 cap on recoveries. However, the Cook County judge denied the defendants’ motion and Illinois law was applied.

The decedent’s family claimed that the subcontractor, Edward E. Gillen Co., was negligent for its failure to warn and remove workers from the area where the occurrence took place. They further claimed that the crane operator who was employed by Gillen was negligent in failing to warn and handle the crane’s load he was operating.

The case was resolved in a mediation setting by a former Cook County associate judge.

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Now that the road construction season is upon us in Chicago and Illinois it is important to remember to drive safely and cautiously when in a construction zone. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study, between 1995 and 2002, almost 900 road construction workers died from on the job injuries, with over half of those fatalities resulting from being struck by a vehicle.

However, a recent settlement in a Chicago construction injury case highlights that not only drivers and commuters need to be more careful, but that co-workers also need to practice on the job safety. The case in question involved a 21 year-old construction employee who had been assigned to dig trenches. After completing one trench and preparing to dig a second one, the worker was crushed when a truck driven by a fellow construction worker backed into him.

The decedent's surviving family members claimed that the driver of the construction truck was negligent and had received inadequate training for the specialized truck he was driving, which was a combination back hoe and end-loader. Furthermore, the family claimed that the construction company was also negligent for the work-related injury because they had not carefully supervised this driver to ensure that he operated the truck in a safe and proper manner.

The defendant, employer of the construction truck operator, claimed that the decedent was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout for his safety. The decedent was survived by his wife and a two-month old son. The case was settled for $4.5 million after a mediation with a former Cook County Circuit judge.

Continue reading "Chicago Construction Site Accident Settled Leaving Laborer's Family With $4.5 Million" »

Results from a new study show that deaths associated with forklift accidents are rising. Data was collected over a 15-year period by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under their Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance system.

The study showed that forklifts, or powered industrial vehicles, were involved in a significant number of deaths in the workplace. According to the study several different factors contributed to the cause of the Illinois construction site accidents, including the nature of the injury and the decedent's age, gender, race, occupation, and industry.

Many of the fatalities resulting from forklift overturns might have been prevented if the operators had been restrained with lap or shoulder belts. Careful consideration should be given to separating pedestrian and forklift traffic and restriction of use of forklifts near time clocks, exits and other areas where a large number of pedestrians pass through in a short time.

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The Illinois Supreme Court recently reversed a prior ruling by the Illinois Appellate Court regarding employer immunity under the Workers' Compensation Act (Daniel Ioerger, et al. v. Halverson Construction Company, Inc., No. 105912 (December 18, 2008).) In 1999, Midwest Foundation Corporation and Halverson Construction Company entered into a joint venture for an Illinois Department of Transportation project to repair a bridge over the Illinois River.

The profits, losses and liabilities resulting from the project were to be shared 60-40 between the two companies, with Midwest getting the larger share. As part of this agreement, Midwest was responsible for providing the labor and covering the workers' compensation insurance.

During the project, four of Midwest's iron workers were working from a platform suspended over the Illinois River. While they were working the platform collapsed, which caused them to fall into the river. Three of the iron workers were injured and one died.

The three injured workers and the estate of the deceased worker received workers' compensation benefits through Midwest's workers' compensation insurance. But the four parties also filed an Illinois construction site accident lawsuit against Halverson, the joint venture, and various other defendants. The plaintiffs sought to recover damages for their injuries and the one worker's death.

Continue reading "Illinois Workers' Compensation Act Exclusive-Remedy Provision Denied By Illinois Supreme Court As Applies To Employer's Co-Venturer" »

Consider a case where an Illinois roofer was burned when a tar pot ignites. This construction worker can claim damages against the site developer for negligence. Many building project developers are mindful of the fact that many workers in the construction industry are exposed to dangerous conditions. But in some cases a project owner's negligence may result in a subcontracted workers' injury, in which case the project owner would be liable.

This situation applies when the control of the job's safety clearly rests in the hands of the builder or owner of the project. The relevant company can be held responsible for a construction accident when one of its workers is placed in such a dangerous situation that his/her injuries were foreseeable and predictable.

Let's return to the example of the roofer working with a pot of molten hot roofing material that resembles tar. This heated material is smoothed over the roof and will waterproof the roofing surface once it cools and hardens. In order to get this roofing material up to the roof that may be some 30 feet above ground, several construction workers must hoist the heated containers to the roof. Dealing with such burning hot material is inherently dangerous and requires the owner to provide a safe environment in which to complete this process.

Continue reading "Illinois Construction Workers Can Recover For Burn Injuries" »

Illinois Appellate Court ruled that Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund (IIGF) is responsible for paying Illinois workers' compensation benefits to a worker who was injured on the job (Virginia Surety Co. v. Adjustable Forms, Inc.). This ruling came in spite of IIGF's claims that the Chicago worker was also covered under Virginia Surety Co.'s policy and therefore it should be paying the Illinois workers' compensation benefits.

Michael Hadrys, an Adjustable Forms employee, was injured while working on a construction project in Illinois called the River East Project. And as is typical in the construction industry, his insurance was an owner controlled insurance program (OCIP) meaning that it was covered through the owner of the job and not his direct employer. The OCIP was being covered by Reliance Insurance Co., who have since folded, and that's when things get complicated.

Typically, when an insurance company folds all its claims are handled by the Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund (IIGF), provided that there is no other insurance company involved to take over the claim. However, in this case because Hadrys's employer, Adjustable Forms, actually also had its own insurance through a different provider, Virginia Surety Co. Therefore the IIGF argued that it was not responsible for paying Hadrys's workers' compensation claim, but that Virginia Surety Co. was. Yet the Illinois Appellate Court disagreed.

The case revolved around whether or not Virginia Surety Co. was actually responsible for insuring Hadrys at the time of his Illinois construction site injury. The IIGF said that it was because it was an alternate form of insurance for Hadrys's employer. Virginia Surety Co. said that it was not because Adjustable Forms insurance policy stated that it would cover injured employees unless they had other insurance.

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A recent decision by an Illinois Appellate Court continued the debate regarding the interpretation of the construction statute of repose (Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, Section 13-214(b)).

The construction statute of repose states:

No action based upon tort, contract or otherwise may be brought against any person for an act or omission of such person in the design, planning, supervision, observation or management of construction, or construction of an improvement to real property after 10 years have elapsed from the time of such act or omission.

The statute seeks to protect construction parties from having to defend against stale claims. Since its inception the statute has been a balancing act between the rights of the injured party and the rights of the party responsible for the construction. Illinois courts generally have limited the statute to apply to claims of construction or improvement to real property. However, where some courts differ is on claims brought as to duties of maintenance and inspection.

In Ryan v. Commonwealth Edison Co., Ryan, an electrician, was injured when a circuit breaker exploded. He claimed that ComEd was responsible for the electrical current flowing into the building and that the severity of his accident was increased by ComEd's negligence regarding its ongoing maintenance duties. ComEd argued that the claim should be barred under the statute because the injury resulted from design flaws in the power system when it was installed 20 years ago, which would place it well outside the 10 year limit imposed by the statute. ComEd's motion for summary judgment was granted, but the 1st District Appellate Court, Sixth Division, overturned this decision stating that the injury was the result of poor maintenance and inspection rather than design flaws in the original power system and therefore the statute does not apply.

This circuit's decision focuses on the continuing acts related to the product, rather than the date of the original design of the product. That is significant in that the court looked beyond a hard and fast date of design and instead examined the entire fact background of the power system. The ruling is fair and just and may lead to decisions based on the facts, rather on a certain date of installation, design, sale or manufacture of a product. Motions for summary judgment will be denied where genuine issues of material fact are open for a jury to decide.

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