Confidential
Settlement – $820,000Court
Santa Clara Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Cecil G. Chang
(medical)
Thomas C. Thomas
(technical)
Ealon Joelson
(medical)
James P. Whelan
(technical)
Facts
On April 28, 2001, at about 9:00 a.m., the plaintiff, Jose Dasilva, a 51-year-old drywall taper, fell through an unmarked and unprotected hole in the second floor of a building under construction. While doing drywall work, the plaintiff backed up and stepped on a piece of sheet rock covering a 10-inch wide hole located four to five feet away from the hole where he was working. His right leg fell through the hole, stopping at his thigh and crotch. The fall also caused him to hit his head on a nearby pipe. The plaintiff worked for Stark Interiors, a subcontractor at a construction site operated by Santa Clara based San Jose Construction Co., the general subcontractor. Broughton Fire Protection of Scotts Valley was the sprinkler installation subcontractor who cored the hole where the accident occurred. The hole was made in order to place the fittings for a second floor sprinkler system. The system had not yet been placed at the time of the accident.
Settlement Discussions
The case was mediated before Jack Williams and resulted in a $820,000 settlement paid by both defendants and the workers' compensation carrier. Initially, the plaintiff had submitted a demand of $1 million but there was no counter-offer.
Specials in Evidence
$45,227 $153,457
Damages
The plaintiff's spouse claimed loss of consortium.
Injuries
An MRI of June 27, 2001, revealed a central disc extrusion at L4-5 causing moderate to severe spinal stenosis and significant compression of the dural sac. The MRI also showed a mild disc protrusion on the right at L5-S1 with probable mild impingement upon the right S1 nerve foot. On June 20, 2002, the plaintiff was admitted to Stanford Hospital for a bilateral L4-5 hemilaminectomy, foraminotomy and left L4-5 diskectomy.
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