Case Studies

Electrocution Injury Lawsuit: Recovery $1,283,525.78

John Doe, an employee of Richard Roe Construction, suffered massive electrocution injuries while he was performing work on a watermain project. At the time the electrocution occurred, John was in a trench and was positioning a pipe for the waterlines on this project. As he was attempting to detach the pipe from the bucket of a CAT 235 excavator, which had lowered the pipe into the trench, he suffered the electrocution injury.

This tragedy occurred because, unknown to both the operator of the excavator and John, the arm of the excavator had come into contact with an activated high-tension overhead powerline prior to lowering the pipe into the trench. When John attempted to disconnect the pipe from the bucket at the end of the arm of the excavator, 4800 volts of electricity entered into his left wrist, passed through his left arm and his chest cavity into his right leg and exited out of his lower right calf. As a result of the injuries he sustained, John underwent multiple surgical procedures and was ultimately left with an 81% permanent disability of his left upper extremity as well as a 15% permanent disability to his right lower extremity. He was also left with significant scarring to his left arm, left hand, stomach and right lower extremity.

Suit was filed on behalf of John against the general contractor on the job, the City, and its Department of Utilities. Throughout the course of the lawsuit, all of the defendants continued to put the blame for this terrible tragedy on John’s employer, Richard Roe Construction, which, because of the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Act, was immune from suit.

During litigation and after nearly a dozen depositions, the case was scheduled for a pretrial conference. During the three full days of pretrial conferences, the defendants continued in their efforts to pass the blame onto everyone from John to his employer Richard Roe Construction. Nevertheless, and in spite of legal and factual hurdles, a gross recovery of $1,293, 525.78 was reached on behalf of John.