Little v. First State Mechanical

$10M Settlement

Date of Settlement: Oct. 28.

Court and Case No.: C.P. Philadelphia No. 2018-1163.

Type of Action: Personal injury.

Injuries: Permanent leg injury.

Plaintiffs Counsel: Brian Fritz, Fritz & Bianculli, Philadelphia.

Defense Counsel: Brian Kane, Burns White, Pittsburgh; John Livengood, Margolis Edelstein, Philadelphia.

Comment:

A union carpenter who slipped on ice and sustained a permanent leg injury has reached a $10 million settlement with the companies he sued in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Plaintiff Mike Little, 43, working as a union carpenter as a member of Local 158 for a job managed by First State Mechanical, slipped on an icy patch caused by a broken water pipe, according to Little's attorney, Brian Fritz of Philadelphia firm Fritz & Bianculli.

According to the plaintiffs' court papers, Little, who fractured his ankle and sustained nerve injuries in his right leg, required five surgical procedures, multiple rounds of injections and now suffers from complex regional pain syndrome.

On Oct. 25, following mediation overseen by German, Gallagher & Murtagh partner Gary Gremminger, defendants Sulpizio Mechanical paid $1.95 million and First State Mechanical paid $8.05 million, according to Fritz, who said Little's supervisor was an admitted opioid abuser, and had abandoned the icy construction site to visit a food truck when Little was injured.

"This case and settlement involve a whole new group of victims of the opioid epidemic—those hurt on the job site as a result of someone else's addiction," Fritz said in a statement. "And, unfortunately, this may be the first reported settlement in such a case, but it will not be the last."

"This case is a wake-up call to all construction contractors," Fritz added. "The opioid epidemic is everywhere—including the construction site. Contractors have a responsibility to make sure they only employ safe and sober individuals. Not doing so presents a real risk of physical harm to the addict, as well as others on the jobsite, and today's settlement indicates the possible economic consequences that employer faces too."

First State's attorney, Brian Kane of Burns White, said the company did not admit liability.

"First State rejects any contention that its employees were utilizing drugs or otherwise impaired on the One Water Street project generally or at the time of the accident," Kane said. "The accident occurred as a result of the actions of a subcontractor of First State. The settlement was reached without an admission of liability on the part of First State."

John Livengood of Margolis Edelstein represents Sulpizio and declined to comment.

First State, in court papers opposing Little's request for punitive damages, said the plaintiff had no case.

"Plaintiffs cannot establish ordinary negligence, let alone establish the type of evil motive or reckless indifference required to permit a claim for punitive damages to proceed," First State said in court papers. "Plaintiffs rely solely upon their own affidavit, produced nearly two months after the close of fact discovery, for the assertion that Dan Battista had a drug problem while working on the One Water Street project, and that Dan Battista contributed to plaintiffs' injury by leaving the scene to purchase drugs. No deposition testimony or written discovery supports this assertion."

The defense argument continued, "Significantly, there is no evidence that First State knew of Dan Battista's alleged drug problem at the time of plaintiffs' injury, or that First State was aware that Dan Battista was allegedly purchasing drugs from the break truck at the One Water Street project. There is simply no facts on the record to support such a claim. Nothing in the record supports a finding that First State had a subjective appreciation for a risk of harm to plaintiff by allowing Dan Battista to work on the project."

—P.J. D'Annunzio, of the Law Weekly