Past Construction Negligence Cases

CaseyGerry has been successfully representing injured people for more than 70 years. Below are a few of the construction injury cases we have litigated and information about the negligence that led to our clients’ injuries.

1,000-Pound Carpet Injures Man

A man pushed a 1,000-pound roll of carpet off the roof of a truck. It struck a person below, severely fracturing his leg in multiple places. He underwent multiple surgeries and suffers from arthritis in his knee that will require treatment, therapy, and possible future surgery.

Gas Explosion Kills Child

An open gas pipe was leaking gas into a house rented by a woman with three daughters. The gas exploded, killing one daughter and severely injuring another.

Inadequate Warnings Lead to Rear-End Collisions

A construction project on I-15 involved freeway widening, creating managed lanes, and demolishing and rebuilding several overpasses. The State of California and the contractor on the project closed too many lanes and failed to provide any advance warning of lane closures. When traffic began to brake hard, a series of rear-end collisions occurred. CaseyGerry’s client sustained many injuries in the collision, including broken bones, breathing difficulty, bruises and cuts, and a head injury.

Collapsed Scaffolding Injures Man

Unsafe scaffolding collapsed during a wind gust at a construction site. When the scaffolding collapsed, one of the wooden plans struck a man in the back of his head and on his hand. He was knocked unconscious even though he was wearing a hard hat, and he suffered a disabling and permanent injury to his hand.

Dangerous Road Construction Conditions Cause Fatal Crash

A 16-year-old girl and her friend were killed when their vehicle left the highway and struck large, unprotected trees. The young driver had left the roadway due to ill-positioned, blinding construction lights and irrigation flooding in the travel lanes. The State of California had failed to provide a traffic barrier and correctly time the irrigation system, creating multiple hazards on this strip of roadway.

Defective Blasthole Drill Leads to Fall

A heavy machinery mechanic suffered serious knee and neck injuries when he fell from the platform of a defective blasthole drill.

Lack of Median Barrier Allows Head-on Collision

The State of California and a contractor failed to place a center median barrier to separate opposing traffic lanes. Two motorists collided head-on. One driver and one passenger died in the crash.

Improperly Tagged Electrical Fuse Box Leads to Shock

An electrical fuse box aboard a Naval ship was not properly secured or tagged. As a result, a sheet metal journeyman believed that there was no power supplied to the box. He suffered severe electrical shock and injuries.

Truck Falls into Trench

At a San Diego college, a construction company install safety plates over a trench. Believing they were safe, a cement truck driver backs onto the steel plates. One slipped inside the trench, causing the truck to turn on its side and fall on top of a man. Pinned between the 33-ton truck and the trench, the man suffered severe leg and pelvic injuries.

Unsafe Piece of Lumber Injures Bicyclist

A bicycle rider turned right onto a bike path at Ocean View Parkway when his tire struck a 10-foot piece of lumber pinned under a concrete barrier extending across the path to the curb. He flew off his bicycle and onto the road. He sustained fractures to his hip and ribs.

1,000-Pound Valve Rod Falls on Man’s Hand

A journeyman machinist was severely injured when a technical representative of a car company caused a 1,000-pound valve rod to fall on his hand.

Unsecured Feeder Box Crushes Man

A man was killed at a construction plant when an unsecured feeder box pivoted down, pinned him, and crushed his head.

Improper Window Locks Lead to Fall

A 68-year-old dementia patient fell from the window of an assisted living facility. The fall led to severe pelvis injuries. A properly designed dementia care facility has windows that do not open or cannot be opened past six inches. The facility therefore had a responsibility to prevent this incident by installing proper window opening control devices that residents cannot operate. The patient had unscrewed the jury-rigged block of wood keeping his window closed and then fell from the window.

Out-of-service Air Condition Leads to Heatstroke

A mentally-ill man died when the air conditioning unit in his residence failed and was out of service during an extensive heat wave. His core body temperature was 108 degrees when paramedics found him in acute distress.

Tractor Mower Amputates Man’s Arm

A man arm was amputated at the shoulder when a braided steel cable hanging from a tree was pulled taut by a tractor mower. The company was responsible for checking all areas to be mowed ahead of time to ensure there were no foreign objects that could get caught in the mower. An agricultural employee was driving the mower to mulch dead vegetation and caught the cable.

Power Line Explosion Causes Electrical Shock

The driver of a dump truck accidentally struck power lines with the bed of his truck. The power line fell across both lanes of the freeway and across both ramps. There was an explosion, which caused multiple vehicle crashes. CaseyGerry’s client was moving at highway speed when the electrical lines appeared. He threw himself onto the floor of his minivan but fell victim to an electrical shock and acoustic blast sound wave. He continues to suffer from headaches, severe pain and numbness down his back and legs, pins and needles and a burning sensation, vision problems, dizziness, and more.

While each of these cases differ, one fact remains the same. Negligence on a construction site led to unexpected and catastrophic injuries. CaseyGerry’s clients prevailed in these lawsuits, obtaining justice and compensation for their losses.

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