Confidential
Settlement – $105,000Facts
This lawsuit concerns a fall from a scaffolding that occurred on June 5, 1991. The Plaintiff was a 34-year-old oil-industry bricklayer at the time. The scaffold was erected in a processing tank on the Defendant refinery's premises. The tank was a rectangular building with a domed roof and a flat floor. This chamber was lined with brick. There are many such vessels that are lined with brick; these vessels are used to process the raw petroleum. When they are shut down for rebricking, it is important that they be rebricked as fast as possible. Therefore, the workers work long hours and without time off for weekends. This way they earn double or double-and-a-half time for days in a row. Down the middle of the chamber were vertical pipes. The scaffolding went from side to side of the building on the inside and extended from within 6 inches of one end of the building to within 3 or 4 feet of the other end of the building. There were at least 2 levels of the scaffolding. To go from one level to another, there were ladders at the end of the vessel where the scaffolding was held back from the end of the building 3 to 4 feet. The ladders were on either side of this opening. The pipes that extended vertically down the middle of this vessel terminated at the same place that the scaffolding terminated. That was 3 to 4 feet from the end of the building. In order to go from one side of the scaffolding to the other, one had to swing around the pipes holding on to them. There were 2 versions of this accident. Plaintiff was an employee of a contractor who had been hired by Defendant to remove and replace the brick lining of the vessel in question; he was not an employee of Defendant. His work was that of a bricklayer in the oil industry. Prior to this accident, Plaintiff had suffered injury to his low back. He had returned to work and was working full time at the time of this accident.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiff contends he demanded $200,000; Defendant made no offers prior to this settlement; and Cross-defendant Plaintiff's employer offered $20,000 to settle the issues raised in the Cross-complaint. Defendant contends that Plaintiff's demand was $250,000.
Specials in Evidence
$18,000 $2,000,000 unknown
Injuries
L4-5 disc herniation requiring laminectomy and discectomy resulting in permanent and total disability.
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