$1.3 Million Recovery After Union Painter Was Forced to Work Alone on a Tall Ladder
A 57-year-old union painter fell from a 12-foot ladder while working alone in a Staten Island school bathroom with 13- to 14-foot ceilings. The Orlow Firm pursued the property owner and general contractor under New York's scaffold law. The defense argued our client had simply "lost his balance" and that no construction-safety law was violated. Their insurance offered $577,000 to settle. The Orlow Firm rejected the offer, exposed the contractor's foreman admitting under oath that the painter had asked for an assistant on multiple occasions and been refused, and recovered $1.3 million, more than double the offer.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What Happened
Our client had been a member of the painters' union since 1990. In the summer of 2012, his company sent him to paint five bathrooms at a Staten Island public school. The ceilings were 13 to 14 feet high, with tile up to seven feet. All of his work took place above the tile, requiring a 12-foot A-frame ladder. For the first two of the five bathrooms, the contractor gave him an assistant whose only job was to hold the ladder steady. After those bathrooms were finished, the assistant was taken away. He kept asking for one. He asked his own boss. He asked the general contractor's foreman. Both said no. On August 11, 2012, our client was working alone in the fifth bathroom. He was about halfway up the ladder, sanding the wall. As he leaned in, the ladder shifted under him. He fell.
How We Won
When we moved for summary judgment under New York's scaffold law, the defense pointed to a single piece of testimony from the foreman. Our client had said, in his account of the fall, that he had "lost his balance." The defense argued that meant our client's own balance was the cause of the fall, not any defect in the ladder or any failure by the contractor, and that the scaffold law did not apply. The trial court denied our motion based on that argument.
Adam Moses Orlow, our Managing Partner, filed an appeal and built the rest of the case around the foreman's own admissions. The same foreman who had given the defense their soundbite also testified, under oath, that our client had asked him for an assistant on multiple occasions before the accident. He admitted he had heard the requests. He admitted he had not provided one. That was the case. The contractor had been told. They had been asked. They had said no. Whether our client had also "lost his balance" at the moment of the fall did not change the underlying violation. He was working alone on a tall ladder because the contractor had refused to give him a holder. The defense's insurer offered $577,000 before mediation. We rejected the offer and pushed the case forward.
The Injuries
Our client landed on his left foot and broke the bone in his heel. He had to wait through pre-surgical complications, including blood clots, before surgeons could operate. The repair required a fusion of the joint in his foot, and even the defense's own examining doctor agreed the injuries were severe.
The Result
The Orlow Firm recovered $1.3 million for our client, more than double the defendants' initial offer.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a fall at a construction site after asking for safety equipment that was not provided, contact The Orlow Firm at (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.
