$900,000 Settlement in Suffolk for Ankle Fracture Due to Construction Site Ladder Accident
As winter approaches with ice and freezing rain, I am sure that that more carpenters and other workers on construction sites will be calling our offices with ladder accidents. Unfortunately, for those construction workers who have work during the winter, their jobs become doubly dangerous.
Last Friday in Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead, our trial attorneys settled a case involving a construction worker who slipped off a ladder and broke his ankle for $900,000. Our client was working on new construction at a local school district at the time of the accident. We had already wrapped up the workers' compenstation portion of his claim and taken care of all his past medical care.
Of course, this was not the "run of the mill" ankle fracture. It was the far more serious trimalleolar fracture involving all three bones of the ankle, the tibia, fibula and talus (see diagram above). This is a very unstable fracture and requires surgery involving the placement of multiple surgical screws in the ankle joint, as it did in this case (see x-ray below of trimalleolar fracture with screws). Unfortunately, due to this injury our client was never able to return to his career as a union carpenter.
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The thing that makes this case even more significant was that such a high settlement amount was negotiated in the normally very conservative Suffolk County, New York. Suffolk County is still New York State's largest agricultural county, and juries tend to be more conservative than those we see in the Bronx or other NYC boroughs.
The case was settled during jury selection and like any good poker player, our trial attorney held on to his cards until he got the client the number he wanted. Our client never expected such a large recovery from his lawsuit, and he and his wife were quite pleased to say the least.
As winter approaches, all workers on construction sites should be extra careful when climbing and descending ladders. One wrong step could end your career in construction.
