Miller Weisbrod obtains $5,500,00.00 Settlement

Clay Miller, partner in Miller Weisbrod, obtained a $5,500,000 settlement for his client Jose Luna for injuries sustained in a construction accident. Mr. Luna was paralyzed when he fell in a hole that was concealed by an unmarked and unsecured cover while working on a roof of a day care that was being constructed in Plano, Texas.

	Miller brought suit against the General Contractor (Journeyman) and the subcontractor (Fox) that had initially created the hole and placed the cover. The hole was part of the original plans of the project and was intended to be a roof hatch once the building was complete. On December 18, 2013, Jose Luna was walking across the roof of the building to obtain some plywood for a wall he was building.

He felt his foot make contact with something and then the sensation of falling. Upon impact with the floor one story below, Luna’s spinal cord suffered a severe injury leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The General Contractor attempted to place blame on the subcontractor that had installed the hole cover. Through discovery it was determined that the hole cover had been installed and secured but not marked as required by OSHA.

OSHA safety regulations require that hole covers be both marked and secured. OSHA 1926.502(i)

Through progress photos it was determined that the hole cover had been unsecured approximately one month before Luna’s fall and after the area was released by the subcontractor to the General. Through deposition questioning, the job superintendent admitted that the hole cover had been unsecured under his orders to take measurements of the hatch hole. This was a different story than he had told his company safety director post-accident—he tried to blame the incident on the subcontractor and Luna’s employer. During a trial cross-examination (because he was out of trial subpoena range) weeks before the start of trial, the job superintendent admitted the following:

A settlement was reached with the subcontractor the Friday before trial for $500,000. The insurance carrier for the General Contractor was stuck at $3,000,000 up until the morning of trial. As the Court was beginning to hear Motions in Limine and just before jury selection, the carrier (facing a noon deadline) increased its offer by $2,000,000 allowing the entire case to settle for $5,500,000. With this settlement, Luna’s life care plan can be fully funded with a structured settlement and upfront cash payment.

Over the last twenty plus years, Clay Miller has partnered with law firms across the state of Texas on a referral and joint venture basis to pursue cases of catastrophic injury and wrongful death arising from construction and work site incidents. Miller Weisbrod would welcome the opportunity to work with you to obtain justice for your clients injured or killed on the job.
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Miller Weisbrod, LLP is a national law firm specializing in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Partners Clay Miller and Les Weisbrod have built the firm’s reputation with successful verdicts, settlements, appeals and favorable decisions across the country. With resources and finances available to take on the powerful interests that have caused harm, the firm is committed to providing quality representation for clients who are seriously injured and families of victims who are killed as a result of the negligence or misconduct of others. Miller Weisbrod has offices in Dallas and affiliate offices in Houston and Austin. For more information call (888) 987-0005 or visit www.millerweisbrod.com.