|
Construction
$14 Million The instructions for a particular hoist specified that, for safety reasons, the equipment should always be used with the provided ballast. Yet, for cost reasons, the hoist was sold without the safety equipment. As a result, Charles Phillips, who was working on a hospital, suffered catastrophic brain damage when the hoist flipped over and crushed his skull. $8.5 Million The brakes on a forklift failed as it was being backed down a ramp. The driver tried to apply the emergency brake, which also failed. Steering into a wall to avoid workers, he struck some scaffolding, causing part of it to strike construction worker John Napora in the head. Napora suffered severe brain trauma and was left in a wheelchair, unable to move his arms or legs and requiring around-the-clock medical care. In a mediated settlement, Napora received $8.5 million for his medical costs and damages. $8 Million An 80,000-pound truck without a backup alarm ran over Bradley Musser, crushing him. Extensive surgery was required, including the amputation of his right leg. After multiple operations he survived, but now relies on a wheelchair or prosthesis for mobility. He filed suit against the concrete company that owned the truck, claiming that its driver backed up without looking. After several days of trial, the defendants agreed to pay $8 million. $4.8 Million Keith Voiro was working as a pile driver on a roadway construction site when the edge of an eight-foot-deep trench collapsed. Voiro, who had been standing near the trench's edge, attempted to catch himself by grabbing onto a beam and tore his biceps muscle and damaged nerves in his neck and arm. The injuries caused Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a chronic burning pain caused by nerve damage, which left Voiro in constant pain, unable to work. The case went to trial, but was settled for $4.8 million during the second day of testimony. $3.8 Million Working on a major arena, David Leahy fell and sustained a career-ending leg injury that required a knee replacement and extensive additional surgeries. Our firms reviewed towards reviewed thousands of documents and unearthed evidence that just a few days before the fall, contractors and subcontractors had made promises to install fall protection, which they did not keep. $3.6 Million Ironworker James Raso's career ended when a load of 20-foot-long, steel roofing panels fell on him from a crane, rupturing his spleen, fracturing ribs, collapsing his lungs, and damaging his femoral nerve and artery. After six weeks in the hospital, Raso was left with cognitive difficulties and a limp. According to witnesses, the crane operator had been moving the panels from a trailer when he jerked the load, causing the load to drop and crush Raso $3 Million Two carpenters were painting a beam twelve feet above a concrete floor when the aerial lift they were using hit a hole in the concrete and fell over. One suffered nerve damage to his foot and an injured back. The other suffered two fractures in his right leg and a shattered ankle. He is no longer able to work. In addition, the company that leased the lift to the construction site did not provide adequate training in its use, a requirement of the 1990 American National Standards Institute Code. After seven days of trial, the case was settled for $3 million. $2.7 Million A construction worker suffered a severe ankle injury when the platform of the scaffold he was standing on collapsed. The scaffold had recently been moved from another construction site, and, during the move, the board dislodged. It was proven at trial that the scaffold was defective because it was not sold with clips to prevent the platforms from coming loose, or guardrails, and because the warnings on the scaffold were insufficient. The jury awarded $2.7 million.
Top
Electrical Accidents
$9 Million When a mechanical loader touched uninsulated power lines, the worker operating it, Daniel Eife, received devastating burns that required the amputation of both arms. The type of loader involved, with hard-wired controls instead of remote controls, had been involved in numerous prior accidents causing a significant number of injuries and death. The defendants in the case included the power company, the manufacturer of the loader, and the repairer of the hard-wired controller. A mediated settlement resulted in one of the largest personal injury recoveries in Pennsylvania history. $3 Million Two construction workers, John Ausland and Gordon Sweringen, were fatally electrocuted when the hoisting block of the crane whose load they were steadying struck an uninsulated power line carrying 7200 volts of electricity. During discovery, it was found that the owner of the power lines and the government in charge of the construction project had failed to take measures to improve the safety of the site and to properly warn the workers of the dangers of the lines, despite numerous similar incidents in the past, including three in the prior year. It was further discovered that the crane manufacturer had failed to equip the crane with proper warnings or an insulated safety link, which prevents electricity from flowing through the crane's hook and load. Following two weeks of pre-trial rulings, the case was settled for $3 million, to be split equally between the estates of the deceased. $2.75 Million While securing a piece of insulation on the roof of a building, carpenter Charles Siciliano accidentally contacted a wire carrying 7,620 volts of electricity. The charge killed Siciliano instantly. According to the National Electrical Safety Code, wires like the one that killed Siciliano should be placed at least twelve and a half feet above a roof, but this one was only raised 32 inches. $2.5 Million Donald Hunt, a roofer, was working at a home in Chester County, Pennsylvania, when the 24-foot laddervator he was carrying touched a 24,000-volt overhead power line. Hunt received severe burns to both legs, necessitating 13 surgeries, including skin grafts and the amputation of the toes of his left foot, along with other physical and emotional injuries. The records of PECO Energy, the company responsible for the lines, show PECO had violated its own standards, which require lines to be at least nine feet from a residence.
Top
Civil Rights
$5 Million Joan Murphy and several coworkers were wrongfully discriminated against as a result of company hiring and firing policies specifically targeting female workers. Schwarz & Schwarz, P.C., was able to establish that over one hundred female workers were adversely affected by the company’s calculated and deliberate attempt to wrongfully discriminate in denying equal benefits and wages for those workers.
$4.5 Million An off-duty police officer was accused of assaulting and shooting a sixteen year old boy causing partial paralysis to his right arm and causing various cognitive disorders related to a corresponding head injury. Mr. Schwarz, a pioneer in civil rights claims, was one of the first attorneys in the country to establish that a municipal entity is responsible for the conduct of an off duty police officer in a non-criminal setting.
$4 Million An unarmed, teenage boy was shot in the back by a police officer while leaving a crime scene. While on the ground, the officer then fired a second shot into the boys lower back resulting in paraplegia for the teenager. The Municipality admitted liability in this matter when two world renowned forensic pathologists confirmed that the police officer’s second gunshot caused the boy’s paralysis.
Top
Product Liability
$14 Million The instructions for a particular hoist specified that, for safety reasons, the equipment should always be used with the provided ballast. Yet, for cost reasons, the hoist was sold without the safety equipment. As a result, Charles Phillips, who was working on a hospital, suffered catastrophic brain damage when the hoist flipped over and crushed his skull. $9 Million When a mechanical loader touched uninsulated power lines, the worker operating it, Daniel Eife, received devastating burns that required the amputation of both arms. The type of loader involved, with hard-wired controls instead of remote controls, had been involved in numerous prior accidents causing a significant number of injuries and death. The defendants in the case included the power company, the manufacturer of the loader, and the repairer of the hard-wired controller. A mediated settlement resulted in one of the largest personal injury recoveries in Pennsylvania history. $8.3 Million Harold Hart was operating a digger derrick, a machine used to install utility poles, when a telephone pole fell on him. Hart suffered a fractured skull and frontal-lobe contusion, which left him comatose for six weeks and permanently deaf. The digger derrick lifts the poles by a cable noose that is attached to the hook of a crane, but the open hook used on this particular derrick made it possible for the cable to slip out of the hook. Additionally, the derrick's design forced the operator to stand beneath the crane's boom, a perpetual danger zone. The crane's manufacturer offered safety equipment for the machine but only as an optional feature. The jury awarded Hart $8.3 million $3 Million Two carpenters were painting a beam twelve feet above a concrete floor when the aerial lift they were using hit a hole in the concrete and fell over. One suffered nerve damage to his foot and an injured back. The other suffered two fractures in his right leg and a shattered ankle. He is no longer able to work. In addition, the company that leased the lift to the construction site did not provide adequate training in its use, a requirement of the 1990 American National Standards Institute Code. After seven days of trial, the case was settled for $3 million. $3 Million Two construction workers, John Ausland and Gordon Sweringen, were fatally electrocuted when the hoisting block of the crane whose load they were steadying struck an uninsulated power line carrying 7200 volts of electricity. During discovery, it was found found the owner of the power lines and the government in charge of the construction project had failed to take measures to improve the safety of the site and to properly warn the workers of the dangers of the lines, despite numerous similar incidents in the past, including three in the prior year. It was further discovered that the crane manufacturer had failed to equip the crane with proper warnings or an insulated safety link, which prevents electricity from flowing through the crane's hook and load. Following two weeks of pre-trial rulings, the case was settled for $3 million, to be split equally between the estates of the deceased. $2.7 Million A construction worker suffered a severe ankle injury when the platform of a scaffold collapsed. The scaffold was not sold with clips to prevent the platforms from becoming dislodged. The jury awarded the worker $2.7 million. $2 Million Richard Techtmann was helping a truck driver unload a truck when the bridge plate dropped below the bed of the truck. Techtmann was using his hands to pull the plate back up when the truck driver activated the truck's hydraulic lift without checking to see if Techtmann was clear. The middle finger of Techtmann's dominant hand was crushed by the lift, causing severe neurological damage, including reflex sympathetic dystrophy, brachial plexus neuralgia, and chronic pain syndrome. These injuries left Techtmann unable to work. After five days of trial, the case was settled for $2 million.
Top
Premises Liability
$2+ Million An off-duty police officer, Joe Schuck, jumped off the three-meter diving board at a swim club and struck his head on the sloped bottom of the swimming pool, resulting in devastating spinal injuries. We were able to prove that the swimming pool did not conform to standards, had inaccurate depth markers, and that a diving board of that height should never have been installed at that location. The case settled for millions. $475,000 An off-duty police officer, Bart Spennato, slipped and fell on a snow covered defect located on a municipal sidewalk which caused Mr. Spennato to sustain a herniated disc in his lower back. At the time of the incident, approximately over thirty years ago, local government had a complete immunity for Mr. Spennato’s injuries. However, a lawsuit was instituted on behalf of the officer, and, while in litigation, the immunity statute was repealed. At trial, the jury awarded $475,000. $305,000 A truck driver was making a delivery to a chemical plant when he suddenly became unable to breathe. Toxic fumes and gases, including phosgene, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride, had escaped from equipment at the plant. The driver suffered Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome, a condition that causes coughing, shortness of breath, nausea, burning eyes, and headaches. In addition, he developed asthma and psychological difficulties, including post-traumatic stress disorder and an adjustment syndrome. The presence of the gases and fumes made the company liable for the driver's injuries. A settlement agreement was reached to compensate the driver for his medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, in the amount of $305,000.
Top
Medical Malpractice
Undisclosed Eighteen-year-old Jesse Gelsinger died taking part in a University of Pennsylvania Institute for Human Gene Therapy study of treatments for a rare disorder called Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency. In a complaint filed against the university, the hospital, a bio-tech company, and several doctors and professors, the Firm charged wrongful death, lack of informed consent, infliction of emotional distress, strict products liability, fraud, and misrepresentation to the Food and Drug Administration as well as the patient. This high profile case settled within months. The settlement made front page news. $6.6+ Million A woman went to her doctor complaining of a lump in her breast. After a negative examination, she was not referred for a mammogram, although it was just a few months before her 35th birthday and it was office policy to refer 35-year-old women for screening mammograms. A few months later, a second doctor essentially repeated the same steps. More than two years after that, the second doctor noticed a growing lump. A mammogram detected breast cancer, which had already metastasized to several other organs, and aggressive therapy was initiated. $1.8 Million Following a construction accident, a man went to see a doctor about his back pain. The doctor performed two back surgeries; however, the patient's condition only worsened, leaving him unable to work. The man ultimately had to undergo a third surgery with another doctor in an effort to correct the damages of the first two surgeries. The case went to trial, where a jury awarded $1.8 million for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages. $1.5 Million Over a five-month period, a man complaining of fever, aches and pains, and night sweats saw two doctors. The patient had a history of heart problems, including a heart murmur and valvular heart disease, but his doctors did not diagnose his case of subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE), a bacterial infection. The SBE caused a stroke, paralyzed his upper right arm and lower right leg, and caused depression. The jury awarded $1.5 million. $1.35 Million Despite ongoing symptoms, a thirty-eight year old wife and mother of two was not tested for a brain tumor by her treating physician. If either MRI or C.T. Scan studies had been prescribed by her treating doctors, the Plaintiff may still be alive. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Plaintiff after a seven day trial. $1.25 Million A man complaining of a lump in his neck was referred by his family doctor to an ear, nose, and throat specialist. The specialist prescribed an antibiotic and said the man may need a CAT scan and biopsy, telling him where to go to receive the tests. The patient never received the tests, and the lump was later found to be late-stage lymphoma that proved to be lethal. The Firm argued that the specialist should have ordered the tests and followed up to ensure they were completed, which would have led to an earlier diagnosis and increased chance of survival. A jury awarded the plaintiff $1.25 million. $1 Million An insulin-dependent diabetic fell and crushed a bone in his foot. His doctor ordered a cast for the foot and, over the following months, treated the patient five more times. The patient complained of complications, and ultimately went to the emergency room. At the hospital his foot was found to be infected with gangrene, edema, and cellulites, which necessitated amputation below the knee. A jury found the doctor to be largely responsible and awarded $1 million.
Top
Motor Vehicle
$2.5 Million When a car struck a column in a city street that was not properly marked, one of the passengers, Gerard Hines, sustained quadriplegia. Our attorneys investigated the scene, retained numerous experts, and built a strong case based on extensive research. Two defendants acknowledged that problems with the signage and road design may have caused the accident. $425,000 While responding to an emergency call, a police officer sped through a red light, hitting a vehicle that was crossing the intersection on a green light. The man driving the car was killed in the collision. His family initiated a wrongful-death claim against the police department. found to be that the police officer was negligent in his driving by failing to use his siren, unsafely exceeding the speed limit, and failing to ensure that the intersection was clear before proceeding through it. After six months of negotiations, a settlement for $425,000 was reached, compensating the man's family for the losses to the family and to the family restaurant, in which the deceased played an integral role. $400,000 A nineteen year old passenger in a motor vehicle sustained disabling and permanent injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident when a bail of hay was left in the middle of an interstate highway. Through discovery our firm was able to establish necessary negligence on the part of a motor vehicle operator in order to recover on behalf of the passenger.
Top
Recreational and Consumer Products
$11.3 Million On September 2, 1983, 14-year-old Tamica Haines was at her 17-year-old friend Diane Teagle's house. There was a gun in the house, owned by Brenda Teagle, Diane's mother, who did not know how to operate it. An 18-year-old neighbor was looking at the gun and, thinking that the safety was on and that it was unloaded, aimed it at Haines' head. The gun accidentally discharged, striking Haines near her left eye, causing severe brain damage and other injuries. The Firm was able to prove that had the gun shop showed Brenda Haines how to properly operate the gun, the accident would not have occurred. A jury split responsibility between the dealer Donn's Gunroom, Brenda and Diane Teagle, and the neighbor who aimed the gun, awarding Haines $11.3 million. $1.4 Million One company manufactured the vast majority of baseball helmets in America, but their helmets had only a quarter inch of padding inside, which had caused multiple prior head injuries. The Firm proved that, unlike many other kinds of helmets, safe baseball helmets are easy to design because designers should know how big and how heavy a baseball is and how fast it can be thrown. The Firm was able to prove that if the manufacturer had used an extra half-inch of padding, it could have prevented any foreseeable injury. Now, thanks to this case, almost every little leaguer in America plays with safer helmets.
Top
|
