I completed a retrial on the damages phase of a case against The City of New York and Aspro Mechanical Contracting brought by a steel welder in Manhattan, Supreme Court. The first jury trial held resulted in a verdict of approximately $3.5 million dollars under the New York State Labor Law against the defendant's who were found to have violated construction site safety regulations.

The plaintiff, age 56, was working off a closed 8 foot A-frame ladder while welding a steel water tank. The plaintiff testified that the ladder slid which caused him to fall from the 5th or 6th step. An appellate court ordered a retrial because they believed the defense had been put at a disadvantage when the plaintiff's orthopedic surgeon came to court with twice as many medical records as he had provided in response to the defendant's trial subpoena. 

The welder fell off the ladder onto his dominant out-stretched right hand sustaining an intra-articular fracture of his distal radius (wrist) which was treated with a closed reduction and casted for 6 weeks. He subsequently developed DeQuervain's syndrome and required surgical decompression of the first dorsal compartment (thumb). He also suffered neck and lower back injuries which resulted in a lumbar percutaneous discectomy to decompress his spine. He was never able to resume his employment. The jury awarded the welder $2.5 million for 10 years of past pain & suffering and loss of enjoyment of life; $1.0 million for future pain and suffering over the next 15 years; $930,000 for past lost wages and benefits; and, medical expenses of $56,000 all of which came to a total of $4,486,000.