STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – A construction worker from Staten Island who was partially blinded in one eye by a support jack at a Manhattan construction site four years ago has settled his lawsuit for $1.5 million, his lawyer said.
James Morrow, 44, was working for Advanced Carpentry Construction on the job at 321 West 35th St. on Aug 29, 2014, attorney Michael H. Bush said.
Advanced Carpentry was a subcontractor of JVC, which built the foundation and was laying the first-floor deck when the incident occurred at about 10:15 a.m., said the lawyer.
Morrow, a foreman, was working on the ground level checking jacks, which were used to support the first-floor deck when concrete was poured.
He turned his head at one point, and his right eye hit a clamp wedge spike that was part of the support jack, said Bush.
The support jack should have had a hard plastic mushroom cap on it to prevent injuries, the attorney said.
Morrow was rushed to the hospital where he underwent eye surgery, said Bush, a partner in the New Dorp firm Chelli & Bush.
He subsequently underwent two additional surgeries, court documents said.
Due to the incident, Morrow suffered a permanent partial loss of vision in his right eye, Bush said.
Morrow sued Landmark Realty LLC, Run 178 LLC and Raber Enterprises LLC, which owned the building, as well as Flintlock Construction Services, the general contractor, in Manhattan state Supreme Court.
He alleged the defendants failed to provide him a safe place to work and allowed a “dangerous and defective condition” to exist.
The case recently settled for $1.5 million.
Factoring in a nearly $119,000 reduction in a State Insurance Fund’s Workers’ Compensation lien increases the total compensation value to more than $1.6 million, Bush said.
http://www.silive.com/news/2018/02/15_million_settlement_for_hard.html
