Confidential
Settlement – $3,200,000Judge
Court
San Francisco Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
The incident occurred on Feb. 22, 2002, during Meddco's work as part of the Moscone Project. Hunt was the general contractor for the project, and hired Sein's employer. Meddco was a subcontractor performing miscellaneous metal work. Meddco was retained to install miscellaneous metals, including hangers and staircases. On Feb. 22, Sein was working with Shaddox installing hangers on the second floor ceiling. Installing hangers required Sein and Shaddox to use a scissors lift to lift them up 30-feet so that they could bolt the hangers to the ceiling. Sein was a passenger in the scissors lift driven by Shaddox. There was a dispute in the testimony as to whether the lift had been lowered or whether or not the lift had been moved forward in its extended condition. Sein indicated that the lift had been moved forward without it being lowered. They finished installing a hanger; Shaddox lowered the lift and he and Sein proceeded to the next location to install a hanger. Sein got out of the lift and walked in a straight line directly to the next marking on the floor, which indicated the placement of the next hanger on the ceiling. When he arrived at the next marking, he placed the laser on the floor, used the beam to mark the ceiling above and climbed into the lift which Shaddox raised to the ceiling. Sein and Shaddox began installing the next hanger. The evidence is undisputed that Sein and Shaddox had firmly bolted the metal plate to the ceiling, and were in the process of installing the metal hanger when the lift tipped over. According to Shaddox, he moved the lift back 2-3 feet in the exact same alignment it was in before the accident. The evidence is disputed as to whether or not Shaddox went straight forward or whether or not he moved it somewhat to the left causing the front tire of the lift land on a box opening covered with plywood. It is the defendant's position that the scissors lift should not have been operated on the area covered by Visquen plastic. The plaintiffs denied that they had been told not to work on the Visquen plastic. According to the undisputed testimony, Shaddox moved the lift back two to three feet to check the alignment of the hanger relative to the laser, and then moved it forward to firmly bolt the hanger onto the plate. Shaddox stopped the lift and began to bolt the hanger. The lift's left-front tire was on top of the plywood-covered box opening, but its weight was too much for the plywood which broke apart. The plaintiffs contended the weight was too much for the plywood which broke apart. The lift was stopped for approximately six to ten seconds over the unbarricaded box opening before it began to tip over. Sein was in the lift and grabbed the basket railing as it fell. Shaddox was fortunate to jump out of the lift when it tipped, but Sein was not so lucky. He could not escape the basket compartment, and fell 30-feet to the concrete floor, with the two-ton lift landing on top of him. Fortunately, a piece of debris prevented the lift from completely severing Sein's leg but the incident left him with catastrophic injuries and a permanent disability.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff's demand at the mediation was $9.5 million.
Specials in Evidence
$597,000 $120,000 $480,000 $510,000
Injuries
Multiple fractures of the upper and lower extremities requiring a series of operations. The plaintiff had seven surgeries and required a further three.
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