$425,000 Recovery After Elevator Mechanic Injured in Pit
An elevator mechanic's right hand was caught between a 500-pound steel buffer and an overhead beam when his assistant engaged a hoist before he was clear of the elevator pit. The Orlow Firm pursued the building owner under New York's scaffold law for the gravity-related hazard. The defense's plan was to make the case about who said what. Our client said he had told his assistant not to engage the hoist. The assistant said he had not. The Orlow Firm anchored the case in the gravity hazard itself rather than the verbal exchange, and recovered $425,000 for our client.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What Happened
Our client was an elevator mechanic working on a complete renovation of a New York City building's elevator on December 27, 2023. He was kneeling inside the elevator pit, drilling away the concrete that encased a 500-pound spring buffer. He and his assistant had connected the buffer to a chain running fourteen floors up to a hoist on the roof. The assistant stood at the elevator opening above, holding the hoist's remote control. As our client finished drilling and placed his right hand on the buffer to push himself up, the assistant engaged the hoist. For a split second nothing moved. Residual concrete still partially held the spring in place. Then the buffer shot upward, pinning our client's hand against the steel beam directly above his head.
How We Won
The defense's strategy turned on a single question: had our client warned his assistant to wait? Our client said he had told the assistant not to engage the hoist until he was out of the pit. The assistant said he had received no such instruction. The defense intended to use that conflict to argue our client had brought the injury on himself. The defense's medical doctor backed up the strategy by minimizing the injury. He noted some minor limited motion and the surgical scars in his report. He did not run a single test for the main complaint, weakness in the dominant hand.
Adam Moses Orlow, our Senior Trial Partner, took the case past the he-said-he-said and onto the law. Under New York's scaffold law and the leading Court of Appeals case, the question is not what was said in the moment. It is whether the worker was hurt because the elevation hazard was not properly controlled. A 500-pound buffer shooting upward in a confined space, with a worker kneeling inside, is exactly the kind of gravity hazard the statute reaches. The medical case held up too. Our orthopedic expert documented permanent loss of hand function. The defense's doctor had not even tested for it.
The Injuries
Our client sustained fractures and lacerations to his hand. He had emergency surgery the following day at Bellevue Hospital. After occupational therapy, he returned to work.
The Result
The Orlow Firm recovered $425,000 for our client.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If you or a loved one has been injured on a construction site, contact The Orlow Firm at (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.
