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Workplace Injury
Many on-the-job injuries are covered by Washington's Department
of Labor & Industries. But some on the job injuries
are the fault of third parties - a bad driver, a general
contractor who fails to provide a safe workplace, or a
defectively designed piece of equipment.
We've handled many such claims, and we are always ready
and willing to investigate cases where a working person
has been hurt on the job.
Following are examples of our workplace injury experience:
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Harvey v. State of Washington
Confidential verdict
Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul W. Whelan
A worker lost his arm during an incident in a prison laundry
facility.
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Tkachev v. Ledcor
$2.4 million settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Kevin Coluccio, Paul L. Stritmatter
Construction laborer Vasily Tkachev, a Ukrainian immigrant,
was applying wire mesh outside a building. Guardrails
had not yet arrived for the scaffold Vasily was using.
As he worked, Vasily’s foot got tangled in the mesh
stacked on the scaffold and he fell to the ground. Injuries
included a broken leg, which eventually became infected
and had to be amputated. Through careful investigation
and a detailed presentation of the facts of the case,
Kevin was able to obtain this outstanding result.
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Katzer v. Mortenson Construction
$900,000 settlement
Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Michael E. Withey, Paul
W. Whelan, Kevin Coluccio
Ironworker Craig Katzer was installing roof decking 25
feet above the gym floor during a construction project
at Issaquah High School. When Craig slipped and fell,
his safety line pulled taut for a moment, then gave way.
Craig hit his head on the concrete gym floor and was in
a coma for six days. Following a remarkable recovery,
he has returned to ironwork. The $900,000 settlement claimed
that Mortenson Construction created an unsafe workplace
- including its failure to adequately train and inform
workers of the potential dangers at the work site.
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Gonzales v. Farmers Electric, Inc.
$790,000 settlement
Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L.
Stritmatter
We represented an onion plant worker who lost his arm
when a defective conveyor pulled him into the machine.
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Kanning and Evans v. Thompson
$1.85 million total settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith
L. Kessler, Brad J. Moore
A worker inspecting a manhole on his employer’s
property collapsed at the bottom of the manhole from a
lack of oxygen. When his co-worker went for help another
worker went into the manhole to help. He, too, was overcome
in the oxygen-deficient space. Both men died within three
days. Our legal team helped the men’s widows by
handling the complexities of a worker bringing a suit
against an employer.
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Hannula
v. Burlington Northern Railroad
Confidential settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Kevin Coluccio
Machinist Michael Hannula was injured as a result of the
railroad's failure to provide him with a safe work place.
Mike suffered a serious injury to his knee which required
extensive medical treatment. Kevin worked aggressively
in the discovery phase of the litigation to uncover documents
establishing Mike's case. The confidential settlement
was the largest known in-service settlement for an injured
Burlington Northern worker at the time.
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