$48,000,000.00 verdict for workplace negligence

Karl Truman

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 315

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A jury in Lake County Superior Court, in Crown Point, Indiana rendered a verdict for fourty eight million dollars for workplace negligence. The case involved a steelworker who fell from his ladder at his work site and suffered a spinal injury that left him a parapalegic. The worker blamed the incident on an independent contractor that had inadvertently coated the ladder with concrete teh broke under his weight and caused him to fall.

As a result of the fall, the injured worker sufferred a T-8 fracture that left him a permanent paraplegic from the waist down. Among other things, he no longer has any bladder, bowel or sexual function.

Under worker's compensation laws, if you are hurt on your job, you cannot sue your employer or co-workers for negligence. Your only remedy is workers compenstion benefits. But, this is an example of what is referred to as a third-party claim. So, in this case, the injured worker was able to sue a third-party independent contractor for negligence, so he was not bound by the workers compensation laws.