An Essex County jury returned a $1.8 million verdict following a seven-day trial in a personal injury claim over a fall down the stairs at a construction site.

Anderson Rodrigues Guerini was working for Warrenville Plumbing on a commercial construction site in Union City, where he was transporting a bathtub upstairs on Jan. 17, 2018. Guerini lost his footing on a temporary staircase in a section where the guardrails had been removed. He sustained severe back injuries in the fall.

Guerini underwent a two-level decompression, interbody fusion, and segmental pedicle screw fixation in his lumber spine, as well as an anterior cervical discectomy with fixation and fusion. According to his attorney, John Ratkowitz of Ginarte Gonzalez & Winograd in Newark, Guerini recovered from the cervical surgery but continues to experience significant limitations to his lower back, which restricts his ability to work and perform daily activities. The defendants claimed the cervical spine injury was unrelated to the accident, according to Ratkowitz.

Guerini filed suit in Guerini v. Hutchgrove Enterprises in Essex County Superior Court in September 2018 against Hutchgrove Enterprises, the project developer, and Vin Rick Builders, the general contractor. The suit alleges that both entities failed to provide a safe workplace. Vin Rick argued that it had ceased involvement in the project 10 months before the accident.

Guerini alleged that Hutchgrove failed to implement and manage a safety program at the job site, contributing to the accident. He further alleged that Vin Rick, as the general contractor, was also negligent in managing safety at the job site.

Judge Annette Scoca presided over the trial, which finished ahead of schedule, according to Ratkowitz.

The seven-member jury returned a verdict on Oct. 28, finding that Hutchgrove was negligent in its role as developer and general contractor at the time of the accident. However, the jury found that Vin Rick was not acting as the general contractor at the time of the accident.

The plaintiffs presented a safety expert, Cheryl Scanlon, and a medical expert, Dr. Paul K. Ratzker. Vin Rick presented a safety expert, Robert J. Sagendorf, and Dr. Steven G. Robbins, a medical expert.

The $1.8 million verdict will be reduced by 5% due to the jury’s finding of comparative negligence, according to Ratkowitz. Hutchgrove was attributed 95% liability while Geurini was attributed 5%. That reduced the total verdict to more than $1.7 million. The parties stipulated to an additional $177,161.40 in medical expenses, which brought the net verdict to $1,887,303.33.

Ratkowitz said the jury deliberated for about an hour before reaching its decision.

"The case went to verdict several days ahead of schedule because of how efficiently Judge Scoca and her staff managed the trial and worked after hours on tasks like preparing the final jury charge," Ratkowitz added.

Vin Rick was represented by Christopher J. Hoare of Capehart & Scatchard in Mount Laurel.

"The Honorable Annette Scoca and her court staff were a joy to appear before and managed the trial efficiently and justly," Hoare said in a statement sent to the Law Journal. "The quality of the juror pool was impressive during the two-week trial. Our client was very satisfied with the outcome."

Hutchgrove was represented by Andrew E. Ingram Jr., a solo practitioner in Scotch Plains, who declined to comment.