Worker's Fall Case Settles for $1 Million During Jury Deliberations in Hudson
Following an in-trial settlement in Lopez v. Dinallo, a Brooklyn man is to receive $1 million as compensation for injuries he sustained in a workplace accident.
April 23, 2018 at 08:00 AM
3 minute read
Jersey City, New Jersey/Shutterstock.com
Following an in-trial settlement in Lopez v. Dinallo, a Brooklyn man is to receive $1 million as compensation for injuries he sustained in a workplace accident.
Plaintiff Jose Lopez, now 35, agreed to the settlement with Allied World National Assurance Co., the carrier or defendant Dinallo Construction Co., on Feb. 21, while the case was being considered by a Hudson County Superior Court jury, said Lopez's attorney, Richard Winograd.
Lopez was injured on Oct. 31, 2015, as he was working at a condominium construction site in Jersey City, said Winograd, of Ginarte Gallardo Gonzalez & Winograd in Newark.
Lopez, the lawsuit alleged, fell from scaffolding about 15 feet and sustained a broken right arm and lumbar disc herniations that required fusion, Winograd said. Lopez also sustained a tear in the labrum of his right shoulder that also required surgery, Winograd said.
The lawsuit alleged that Dinallo, the general contractor and Lopez's employer, failed to provide proper safety measures to prevent falling, Winograd said.
The settlement will be offset by a workers' compensation lien of $35,000, Winograd said.
Allied World retained Timothy Jaeger of the Roseland office of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. Jaeger did not return a call about the case.
— Michael Booth
$825K in Icy Sidewalk Fall
Godwin v. Riese Corp.: A resident who broke his ankle in a fall on an icy sidewalk in the Paterson apartment complex where he lived, ultimately resulting in an amputation, settled his Passaic County suit on March 20 for $825,000.
On Jan. 26, 2018, Timothy Godwin, a resident at Governor Paterson Towers, left his apartment in the predawn hours and was walking to a bus stop to travel to dialysis treatment when he slipped and fell on a patch of ice, breaking his right ankle, according to his lawyer, Michael J. Epstein of the Epstein Law Firm in Rochelle Park.
Godwin, currently 76, underwent surgery to repair the fracture, as well as procedures to treat subsequent infections, and ultimately his right leg was amputated below the knee, necessitating a prosthetic device, Epstein said.
The suit named Riese Corp., owner of Governor Paterson Towers, and Raymond P. Marzulli Co., manager of the 500-apartment complex. Godwin claimed he fell on ice that formed from a pile of snow that had melted onto the sidewalk and refroze. He claimed a fresh light covering of snow obscured the icy patch, and alleged that the defendants were aware of but failed to address the refreezing, and had no set procedure for removal.
According to Epstein, the defendants contended that the fall resulted at least in part from Godwin's own negligence, and contended that the amputation was necessitated by the infection—a result of his diabetic condition—rather than from the fall.
The parties were through discovery and had a March 19 trial date when, on March 1, they agreed in principle to an $825,000 settlement. The accord was fully executed on March 20, Epstein said.
Philadelphia Insurance, via an indemnity agreement between Riese and Marzulli, provided representation to both defendants and is responsible for paying the settlement sum, according to Epstein. Godwin had a Medicare lien of $57,179, he said.
The defendants' counsel, Daniel McCarey of Warren, didn't return a call about the case.
— David Gialanella
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