Our client, a 46-year-old male, worked for a moving company that was hired by a large university. The university was clearing out space to prepare for an upcoming construction job. Part of the university’s responsibilities in preparing for this included ensuring that equipment to be moved was secured together prior to moving, and that doorways were measured to ensure equipment could safely be moved through. Together with another co-worker, our client was in the process of moving a rack which contained over a dozen computer servers and weighed approximately 2,000 pounds. They found that the rack would not sit through the door so had to move the unsecured servers to a hand truck. When the hand truck shifted, one of the servers fell onto and crushed our client’s foot. He would eventually be diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).
The university personnel had been asked to remove some of the servers prior to this event, but they refused. Because of this injury, our client was on light work duty and working with his foot in a boot. In a separate event as he was getting onto a forklift, he slipped. He put out his arm to stop himself from falling when his shoulder slid, and he tore a tendon in his shoulder.
Our diligent legal team was able to prove that the university was negligent as it did not meet its responsibilities as property owner by neglecting to prepare property for safe transport. Finkelstein & Partners prepared this video reenactment of the events. When the defendants saw the video, they settled at mediation for $1.75 million.
“This case is an excellent example of a corporate entity turning a blind eye to their responsibilities at the expense of an innocent individual”, noted trial attorney Brian Acard. “Our video and the plain facts presented worked to ensure that they owned up to their actions. Our client was badly hurt and suffered a great deal of pain. While money won’t change that at least he has the satisfaction of holding the university accountable.”