Our client was working as a painter, doing finishing work on a multi-level floor. As he climbed down an affixed ladder to reach the lower level, he slipped and fell to the ground below.
We were able to show that this ladder, the only one available for workers to use, was not safe for the job. It hadn’t been properly maintained and put anyone using it at serious risk.
The defendant pushed back hard against this claim. They argued the ladder was perfectly safe, and even if it wasn’t, there were supposedly multiple other ladders workers could have used instead. But the evidence told a different story. The ladder in question was the only one actually available to the plaintiff at the time of the accident. As a result of the fall, the plaintiff suffered a fractured knee and had to undergo neck surgery to repair herniated discs in his spine. In the end, our client secured a settlement of $3,100,000, holding the responsible parties accountable for putting him in an unsafe situation with no real alternative.