$1.75 Million Recovery After Carpenter Was Directed to Carry Heavy Studs Up Stairs
A carpenter was directed by the general contractor's superintendent to carry a bundle of 60 to 70 pound metal studs up to the sixth floor of a Manhattan building because no one had arranged the freight elevator the building required for oversized loads. He fell on the stairs. The Orlow Firm pursued the general contractor under New York Labor Law. The defense's only path to escaping liability ran through the GC superintendent's testimony. He claimed it was not his responsibility to arrange the freight elevator. Every other witness on the case said it was. The Orlow Firm presented their testimony and recovered $1.75 million for our client.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What Happened
Our client was a carpenter on a renovation project inside a Manhattan commercial building. On an October evening in 2018, the general contractor's superintendent directed him to carry a bundle of 60 to 70 pound metal studs up to the sixth floor. Materials of that size were normally moved on the building's freight elevator. The building required 48 hours' notice for an elevator mechanic to open the ceiling hatch and accommodate oversized loads. No one had given the building that notice, and the studs arrived with no elevator reserved. The GC superintendent told our client to carry them up the stairs instead. Climbing between the fourth and fifth floors, our client lost control of the load. The bundle pulled him backwards, and he fell roughly six stairs.
How We Won
The defense's only path to escaping liability ran through the GC superintendent's testimony. He claimed it was not his responsibility to arrange the freight elevator. If he was right, the case turned on someone else's failure, not the GC's.
Adam Moses Orlow, our Senior Trial Partner, built the case around what every other witness had to say. Our client testified the GC superintendent had directed him to the stairs. Our client's direct supervisor testified the same. Our client's employer testified that arranging the freight elevator was the GC's responsibility under the building's rules and that, had they known the request was being made, they would not have permitted their worker to manually carry oversized materials up six flights of stairs that did not even belong to their company. The building's manager testified that it was the GC who was supposed to schedule the elevator. The GC superintendent was the only witness who said otherwise. Against everyone else's testimony, his version held no weight.
The Injuries
Our client did not seek immediate treatment. As pain persisted over the following ten days, he saw his doctor and was sent for imaging and physical therapy. MRIs documented a Bankart tear, SLAP tear, and partial rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder, cervical disc bulges, lumbar disc herniations at L4-5 and L5-S1, and lumbar radiculopathy. Over the next two years he underwent right-shoulder surgery and two consecutive lumbar surgeries: a hemi-laminectomy and foraminotomy at NYU Langone, and then a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion at the same levels.
The Result
The Orlow Firm recovered $1.75 million for our client.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If you or a loved one has been injured on a construction site because of an unsafe work directive, contact The Orlow Firm at (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.
