09/29/2026
Partners Daniel P. O'Toole, Frederick C. Aranki, and David L. Scher, along with Associate Gabriela Pulla, secured an $8,000,000 settlement in a wrongful death case for the surviving family of a construction worker who fell at a job site and suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, leading to his death. While working at a unit in Brooklyn, the decedent fell 6-8 feet from an unguarded work platform, landing on his head. He was given no safety equipment to prevent such a fall.
Our attorneys made claims under Labor Law 240(1), which requires property owners to provide workers with proper fall protection measures, like guardrails or harnesses. They also made claims for conscious pain and suffering on behalf of the decedent’s estate and claims for loss of parental guidance and support, as our client's four children would no longer have the financial or emotional support of their father.
The defense argued that the decedent endured no conscious pain and suffering since he was unconscious from the moment he struck the ground and never regained consciousness. Our attorneys were able to rebut this argument based on our analysis, and that of Plaintiff’s expert, of the hospital records, which showed that the decedent was in fact experiencing pain for 17 days after the accident. Hospital record entries indicated that he was withdrawing from painful stimuli and receiving paralytic medications that prevented him from responding to painful stimuli.
Though no amount of money can truly compensate the family for this immense loss, we hope the settlement gives them more options for their path forward.
