$875,000 Construction Site Fall Settlement in Queens

A security guard doing his overnight rounds at a Queens construction site stepped into darkness — and fell through a floor opening that contractors left wide open without a single barrier or warning sign.

Security Guard Falls Through Unprotected Floor Opening in Queens

Our client was employed as an overnight security guard at an active construction site in Queens. His job required walking through the building to check access points and ensure the site was secure. On the night of the accident, contractors had removed several floor panels on an upper level to run utility lines below — but left for the day without covering the openings, installing barriers, or posting any warning signage.

In the poorly lit space, our client stepped directly into the opening and fell to the level below, fracturing his pelvis, dislocating his shoulder, and suffering a concussion. He was found by a coworker and transported to the emergency room.

Construction Site Liability for Non-Trade Workers

The defense argued that our client, as a security guard rather than a construction worker, should have been more cautious and was not owed the same protections as trade workers under the Labor Law. Our attorneys established that regardless of trade status, anyone lawfully present on a construction site is owed a safe environment — and that the general contractor's own safety plan required all floor openings to be covered or barricaded at the end of each work day.

We obtained the contractor's daily safety logs, which showed the floor panels had been removed that morning but no work order was issued to cover them before crews left. A site safety expert testified that this was a textbook OSHA violation.

"A floor opening on a construction site with no cover, no barrier, and no signage is a death trap — regardless of whether the person walking through is a carpenter or a security guard. The contractor's own safety plan required these openings to be secured. They ignored their own rules, and our client fell because of it." — Howard Raphaelson, Founding Partner

$875,000 Settlement for a Queens Construction Site Fall

This $875,000 settlement covers pelvic fracture surgery, shoulder reconstruction, concussion treatment, months of lost wages, and the permanent physical limitations our client now lives with. It holds the general contractor accountable for abandoning basic site safety protocols that would have prevented this fall entirely.

If you were injured at a construction site — whether as a trade worker or support staff — our construction accident attorneys have extensive experience with site safety violations and are ready to review your claim.