Construction sites are notorious for mishaps and serious worker injuries. Each year, more workers are hurt and killed doing construction work than employees in any other major industrial sector.
More than 1,000 construction workers die each year in the United States, according to government statistics. The most common causes are accidents involving falling objects or workers falling from elevated areas. Many others result from accidents with motor vehicles, including trucks, cranes and forklifts, while workplace machinery and equipment also causes a large number of injuries and deaths. Electrocution, fires, explosions and exposure to harmful substances and environments also result in serious construction injuries and deaths.
Kline & Specter, PC, represents workers who have suffered severe construction injuries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and nationwide. If you or someone you know suffered a severe injury or death on a construction site, you may want to contact a construction lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.
Workplace injuries range from broken limbs to those involving more severe brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, even death. Among Kline & Specter's legal victories for working men and women are several with spectacular settlements or jury verdicts. They are:
- A lawsuit in which the firm won a $36.4 million settlement for a worker killed in an explosion at a Delaware oil refinery (see Davis/Motiva) The settlement is considered the largest for a single-victim fatality ever reported in the United States.
- In a case that spanned seven years and several appeals, an Allegheny County jury handed down a verdict of nearly $7.9 million for a Pittsburgh worker seriously injured in a fall from a forklift. (see Drum)
- A jury in Luzerne County handed down a $19.1 million verdict for a woman who was struck and seriously injured by a van as she worked on a roadside construction job. (see McManamon).
- The firm won a $5 million verdict — one of the largest for an undocumented worker — for a man crushed to death by a collapsing excavation site. (Arana)
- The firm won a $3 million verdict for a Philadelphia iron worker who fell down a stairwell after temporary lighting failed at a construction site. The worker sustained severe neck and shoulder injuries. (See the McCormick case.)
- The family of a man crushed to death in a crane accident settled a suit against the manufacturer, seller and installer of the crane's control system for $4.4 million. (Yankosky).
- A workplace injury case was among one of Kline & Specter’s first victories as the firm secured settlements totaling $1.25 million in 1995 for Demetrius Atwood, a Philadelphia hotel employee injured by a malfunctioning elevator.
Click here to contact a construction injury lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.
For other Kline & Specter litigation results, click here to see our list of Major Victories.