Worker/Workplace Negligence

Ironworkers' fall from lift yields $16.5M verdict

Two ironworkers who fell from a scissor lift when it was struck by a window during its removal were awarded $16.5 million. Carl Perkins and Alex Sackey-El were on a crew replacing a large glass window at an Apple store in Houston. Workers for Maxim Crane Works were lifting the old window out of place while the plaintiffs were on the lift about 25 feet above ground to help guide the window. When the crane pulled the window free, it swung hard into the lift, knocking it over. Perkins sustained a severely comminuted L2 burst fracture with severe spinal canal obliteration. Sackey-El sustained multiple lumbar and thoracic fractures, as well as a traumatic brain injury. The accident occurred in 2015 and both men were undergoing rehabilitation at the time of trial.