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Daniel J. Rucket wins defense verdict at binding arbitration
04/18/06
Contact
Daniel J. Rucket
(215) 575-4217
On April 18, 2006, Daniel J. Rucket, a partner in Rawle & Henderson’s Philadelphia office, obtained a defense verdict in construction accident case in a binding high/low arbitration before former Judge Edwin Naythons at ADR Options in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rucket represented the general contractor and owner of a residential home development in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. The case was venued in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The framing work for the project was performed by a sub-subcontractor, for whom the plaintiff was employed. On January 19, 1999, the plaintiff fell off the exterior second floor deck of one of the homes under construction while moving a ladder while preparing to install the framing. He slipped on a patch of ice and fell over an exposed side of the decking, approximately ten feet to the ground, fracturing his left wrist and right kidney. He was transported to the hospital, where his kidney was removed and wrist casted. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were negligent for failing to assure that the subcontractors installed temporary safety railings on the second floor decking as soon as it was sheeted. Mr. Rucket presented the site superintendent as a witness, who testified that he was on site daily, but inspected each home weekly for progress only, and that the subcontractors were responsible for the methods of completing their work and the safety of their employees. He further testified that it was not standard procedure to install temporary railings before the framing was completed. All parties produced liability expert reports and the defendants presented liability expert testimony at arbitration that the plaintiff's employer was responsible for the safety of his employees and to determine whether to install safety railings or other fall protection. They further testified that temporary railings were not required before the framing was completed. Judge Naythons held that a subcontractor working independently would be responsible for the safety of its employees, not only for hazards created by it, but also for hazards created by other subcontractors to the point of removing their employees from an unsafe work site until the condition was corrected. Since plaintiff's employer had control of the work site and created the hazard, and the defendants did not have any employees at the home where the plaintiff was injured, none of the defendants were creating, controlling, correcting or exposing employees regarding temporary railings. Judge Naythons entered a verdict against the plaintiffs and for the defendants, including an additional defendant subcontractor responsible for the framing and hiring the plaintiff's employer. Based on the high/low agreement, Mr. Rucket’s clients paid only $12,500.
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