$2.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT: In December 2019, our client was working a holiday shift at an industrial plant when he was assigned to perform a task without explanation, training, or supervision. As a direct result, he was permanently and significantly injured, suffering a compression fracture in his back. Though the compression fracture was able to be repaired surgically, he cannot walk without a cane, and he suffers from urinary incontinence. This life-changing injury could have been prevented had the safety processes put in place been followed by the operators and owners of the plant.
When a referring attorney suspected there was a case for a third-party claim, he called Stampone O’Brien Dilsheimer Holloway. Upon review, it became clear to attorneys J.B. Dilsheimer and Tyler Stampone that this was more than a standard worker’s compensation claim.
“This case was unusual for a few reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is that the plant owner’s and operator’s liability for the accident had already been proven. The plant had conducted a post-accident inspection and found that the owner and operator of the plant were responsible because they hadn’t supervised the change in process. Because it was a holiday, the employee regularly assigned to and trained for the job was out. Sadly, they didn’t consider the risk of assigning the process to someone who wasn’t trained, and our client paid the price,” Dilsheimer explains. But even with the liability report in hand, there was more to facilitate and investigate with the case, and Stampone was there every step of the way.
“In a case like this,” Stampone explains, “there is a lot of back and forth. When there are so many different entities involved, we have to do a lot of filing to get the information we need. Add to that the fact that we have a 2-year statute of limitations after which we generally cannot add any more entities to the lawsuit, and we needed a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time. In addition to that work, we’re also consulting experts about our client’s injuries.”
Stampone O’Brien Dilsheimer Holloway works with numerous experts, and it was this team they turned to to understand the lifelong impact of the accident on their client. They consulted with liability experts, doctors, surgeons, pain management specialists, life care planners, economists, and vocational specialists to ensure they were able to bring the full weight of the plant owner and operator’s negligence to light.
“Our client was a black belt instructor for karate. He worked with children in his community to teach them karate for free. He is a man who took his wife on Harley rides, and now, he struggles to walk. He can’t work, and he is permanently incontinent. Even his personal relationship with his wife is forever changed. These things, when you think about them, cannot truly be quantified, but with the help of our experts, we were able to establish just how much our client lost that day and what the financial impact of that loss was,” Dilsheimer adds.
With testimony from experts and the post-accident liability report, Stampone O’Brien Dilsheimer Holloway secured a $2.5M settlement. For Dilsheimer and Stampone’s client and his family, the relief is palpable.
“Our client and his wife are smart people, and they knew that they had a case before they even walked in the door. It was up to us to make sure that we held the negligent parties responsible for the life-changing injuries he received. We will never be able to help this man do karate or ride his Harley with his wife again, but this win can give him the financial stability that he and his family need now and in the future,” Stampone explained.
Dilsheimer adds, “That’s what we do for our clients, day and night. Our cell phones are our office, and we get the job done no matter where we are. We settled this case while I was out of the country at my sister’s wedding because Stampone O’Brien Dilsheimer Holloway doesn’t stop. We are always engaged, we are always fighting, and because we’re good at what we do, we’re always winning.”
If you’ve been injured in a construction accident or another work related accident, we want to hear from you. We can help you get the compensation you and your family deserve.