$715K Judgment for Back Injury

When a 52-year-old laborer backed into a piece of structural steel while bent over painting rebar on the ground, he suffered lumbar injuries that kept him from working for two years. New York Construction Injury Law Firm Raphaelson & Levine was there to help.

Raphaelson & Levine successfully argued that a recent U.S. Court of Appeals decision applied to this case held; objects that fall from the same level as a worker can be considered a violation of labor law section 240. Section 240, commonly known as the “ladder law,” applies to accidents involving construction workers injured due to a fall from a ladder, scaffold, or other device and from injuries caused by falling objects.

“In addition to labor law section 240, we were also able to argue that Section 241 (6) applied successfully.” Partner Andrew Levine said, “We held the defendants liable for failure to comply with an industrial code section that required a work area free from tripping and other hazards. The defendants failed to provide a safe working area for our client, and as a result, he was seriously and permanently injured.”