Verdict Announcement: Jury Awards Electric Lineman $5.6M Under NY Safe Place to Work Laws
We are happy to announce a big victory for one of our clients: a jury awarded an electric lineman $5,573,783 to compensate him for lost wages, existing and future medical expenses, and pain and suffering. IBEW member John Jourdan suffered permanent knee, back and hip injuries and will never be able to return his job as a lineman. Mr. Jourdan has already undergone six surgeries and will need additional medical care in the future. It has been a serious challenge for him and his family, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
Mr. Jourdan was injured on the job when he fell roughly 30 feet from an electrical pole because he had not been given the appropriate safety harness. This failure to give him the correct safety equipment was a direct violation of New York’s laws that guarantee a safe place to work, specifically the “Scaffold Law” (NY Labor Law 240). The law is designed to protect people who work at dangerous heights or at risk of injury from falling objects.
While we are grateful to have laws to protect workers, the reality is that property owners and contractors don’t always comply and workers are hurt or sometimes killed as a result. When contractors and property owners disobey the law, we are there to hold them accountable and help injured workers get the justice they deserve.
– Frank Dolce, Marc Panepinto & Sean Cooney