Michael Paglione recently represented a 31 year old who fell 30 feet through a commercial rooftop while working at a construction site. His employer was a roofing contractor hired by the project’s General Contractor to replace the roof on a commercial building. Although our client was required to wear a fall protection harness at all times while on the roof, he and his co-workers were forced to remove their harnesses in order to reach the break station, which had been set up by his employer on the other side of the roof. At one point, as he was returning from the break station, our client fell through a weak section of the warehouse roof to the concrete floor, some 30 feet below. Due to the impact, he sustained severe fractures to both ankles that required multiple surgeries to repair.
Under New Jersey workers’ compensation law, you cannot sue your employer for negligence. However, you can sue a General Contractor for negligence if OSHA rules are violated. In this case, our client’s subcontractor/employer had been hired by the General Contractor. Michael successfully argued that the General Contractor should have supervised the placement of the break station, which would have likely prevented this horrific accident from occurring.
Michael retained four experts on this case, including an OSHA/Construction Liability expert, the client’s surgeon, a vocational expert and an economist. He claimed monetary damages for pain and suffering, as well as loss of future earning power.
As a result, Michael was able to settle the case for just under $1 million.
Michael Paglione focuses his practice on a variety of personal injury matters including construction injuries, OSHA violations, severe burn cases, serious accidents and catastrophic injuries. To contact Michael please call (609) 275-0400 or email him directly at mpaglione@szaferman.com.
