Archive for the ‘Construction Accidents’ Category

The former chief crane inspector for New York City began serving a two to six year prison term after having pled guilty in March (2010).  His conviction was for taking bribes for approving the use of cranes he had not actually inspected, and for issuing crane operator licenses to unqualified individuals.

This investigation was prompted by the collapse of two cranes in 2008.  In the first collapse, seven individuals died; in the second collapse, two individuals died.   The defense attorney noted that the cranes involved in these accidents were not of the type for which the defendant was accused of taking bribes.

The punishment, while severe, may well have been even harsher were it not for the fact that the defendant suffers from a pulmonary disease brought on by his work supervising crane operations at Ground Zero after the 9/11 tragedy.

Should  an  “undocumented  alien”  bother to bring a lawsuit should  he/she be injured?

It is clear that millions of persons in our American workforce are present in the United States without proper documentation. As any other worker, these individuals are subject to dangers in both the workplace and in pursuit of their everyday lives.

If any person institutes a lawsuit, there are several areas of loss that go into determining the “damages” that resulted from that injury. The major areas are “pain and suffering”, out of pocket expenses such as medical expenses and often, most significantly, loss of income, past and future.

To begin with anyone, documented or not, may bring a lawsuit. The status of an individual in New York is not relevant at all when referring to “pain and suffering” or “out of pocket” expenses. The fact that someone is “undocumented” does not in any way disqualify that person from bringing a lawsuit, whether work related or otherwise.

The difficulty arises with respect to past and future wages and income lost by that person . The argument was presented that if someone is theoretically disqualified from working because they do not have the proper documentation, then how can that person make any claim for wages lost as a result of an accident that prevents them from working.

The question is a valid one. Those arguing against permitting the recovery of lost wages say that to permit recovery would undermine the immigration policies of the United States since it would encourage aliens to continue to enter the United States, even without proper documentation, and enter our workforce.

New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, on Feruary 21, 2006, decided that undocumented aliens COULD NOT BE BARRED from recovering lost wages in a lawsuit. The court said that to do otherwise would only reward employers for hiring undocumented aliens and would actually encourage employers to hire more undocumented aliens.

One big warning: If it can be shown that the injured employee obtained their job through deception and fraud, then that person will not be able to obtain their lost wages. This makes sense because the employer, when hiring the employee, thought the person was “legal” and only hired him/her because of the fraud. There was no intent by the employer to reap a benefit from hiring an undocumented alien.

Whether you are “undocumented” or not, it is very important to contact a competent injury attorney with experience in dealing in these matters, as soon as possible, in order to protect all your rights and interests.

Posted by New York Injury Attorney Steve Orlow

As Reported by the New York Times, A construction worker died after falling 125 feet when a tall construction lift toppled and struck a downtown Philadelphia apartment building, the authorities said. The investigators are looking to see if the construction worker who fell, was properly harnessed and all safety procedures were followed.  According to witnesses the machine operated by the construction work toppled when a city sidewalk grate gave way.

A Notice of Claim has been filed.

Experienced construction accident attorneys should immediately begin to investigate the procedures that we in place, the safety equipment as well as the construction equipment, and immediately question all witnesses.

At a Construction Site in Queens, NY a cinder block wall collapsed killing one man and injuring three other.   Hedilberto Sanchez, age 26, went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead on the way to Elmhurst Hospital Center. He was one of eight siblings, a husband, and father of 2 children. His wife is expecting another child soon.  The other three three workers, including a brother of Hedilberto, were in serious condition but stabilized.   The accident occured while two workers were on top of 18 foot concrete wall and 2 were on the scaffolding below.  When the wall tumbled, the workers on top of the wall were able to ride the wall as it collasped; the two workers below were crushed under the scaffolding and cinder blocks, causing trauma that eventually took Hedilberto’s life.

According to the City’s Department of Buildings, the construction site has had 6 violations “…since June 2009, when its contractor, the H. Rock Corporation, received a permit for the site,” according to Tony Sclafani, the chief spokesman for the Buildings Department, but none related to the incident. Which included, failure to post proper signage and to keep the sidewalk free of equipment.

The city as issued a stop-work order while the site is under investigation.