Worker Severely Injured By Electrocution Gets $1.2M

Introduction

A construction site worker, employed by Brazuka Construction, was paid $1.2 million settlement after he was severely injured by electrocution at a residential work site.

According to the lawsuit filed in Essex County, the plaintiff was doing siding work on Woodward Street in Jersey City on March 11, 2016. The Plaintiff and other workers were taking down a scaffold when a metal pole came in contact with overhead electrical wires. He suffered an electrical shock and was thrown several feet.

The plaintiff, now 42, suffered a cardiac arrest and was hospitalized for a week at Jersey City Medical Center. He also underwent inpatient rehabilitation at Plaza Health Care and Rehabilitation Center for a week and was at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation for three weeks. Currently, he has ongoing pain from the electrocution wounds, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, and double vision, and has also undergone outpatient physical therapy.

Siding contractor Mayfair Remodeling had subcontracted Brazuka to work on the site, and Prestige Building Co. was the general contractor on the job. The lawsuit claims that Mayfair improperly allowed scaffolding to be built closer to the power lines.

The defense agreed over the liability but argued over the damages asserting that the plaintiff's vision issue was not related to the accident.

A trial was scheduled for May 26, but the parties settled the claim on March 19, during mediation with Paul Vichness, a retired Superior Court judge with Mandelbaum Salsburg in Roseland. The court was notified of the settlement on March 26, and the amount was paid on April 24.

A similar incident took place on May 13, 2016, when a construction worker fell from a freight elevator shaft at Kean University. The victim was a safety foreman and retired from work due to serious injury ailments post the fall. He was awarded $3 million after four years for the injuries he suffered from the fall.

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