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Construction and building sites
are a major source of construction-related injuries
because many subcontractors are performing multiple
tasks at the same time. Safety rules, supervision and
planning are usually implicated in construction accidents.
Here are two recent cases that underscore
our competence in the area of construction injury; Bonilla
v. ICM Resources and Mizrahi v. Masonry Concepts,
Inc.
In the first construction
injury case, Bonilla v. ICM Resources,
our client, Jose Bonilla, was carrying two buckets of
hot asphalt, doing roofing work at a large apartment building.
He stepped in previously applied hot asphalt, which caused
his foot to stick. The two buckets of asphalt spilled
on him, causing severe burn injuries. Because his employer,
the roofing contractor, had neither worker's compensation
insurance not a contractor's license, he became an automatic
employee of the management company of the building. They
denied he was their employee and refused to pay the work
comp benefits. The construction accident case went to
trial. The jury awarded our client $3,300,000.
In
the second construction accident
case, Mizrahi
v. Masonry Concepts, our client, Bill Mizrahi
was working on a construction site as a carpenter. A
masonry crew was working above on scaffolding cutting
cement blocks. Suddenly, a piece of block broke off
and shot out of the saw. The block fell from the scaffolding
forty feet striking Bill's hardhat. Inadequate supervision
of the masonry crew and failure to use safety devices,
such as a net, caused this construction
accident. Our client suffered minor traumatic
brain injury as a result of the blow to his head. The
construction
injury case was settled for $610,000.
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