PREMISES LIABILITY IN NEW YORK
NEW YORK WORKER FALLS THROUGH AN UNGUARDED HOLE
300K SETTLEMENT

WRS Partner, Kenneth J. Halperin, recently obtained a $300,000 settlement for an alarm installer who was working on the construction of a new home on Long Island. The worker was walking through the home checking various connections for his alarm system when he fell through an improperly guarded hole that had been framed for the staircase that would lead down to the basement.

We obtained summary judgment on the issue of liability by establishing that the defendant, the General Contractor, failed to follow appropriate safety standards that would have prevented our client's fall and therefore was in violation of Section 240(1) of the New York State Labor Law.

As a result of the accident, our client sustained a Compression Fracture at three levels of his lumbar spine. At a mediation conference the defendants offered $225,000 to settle the case which we rejected. Approximately two months later we were able to procure a $300,000 settlement for our client.

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