We are pleased to announce that the Los Angeles personal injury law firm of Lederer & Nojima LLP has obtained a judgment of $2,506,432.76 for a worker who sustained serious personal injuries while on a job site in Los Angeles.

The construction site accident occurred on April 18, 2008. Sergio Quintana had been hired by a contractor to perform work on a property belonging to Alvin and Carla Pittman. On the day of the accident, Mr. Quintana was told to undertake painting work on the property, as well as some other tasks. He was standing on scaffolding when the scaffolding shifted, causing Quintana to fall to the ground. He sustained several serious injuries, including severe fractures to his left ankle. He also developed an infection resulting from his injuries which required skin and muscle grafts. The scaffolding had been improperly designed and constructed, and had been erected on an unstable surface.

What made Mr. Quintana’s situation even more difficult was the fact that he was not eligible for worker’s compensation benefits. He had worked on the Pittman’s property less than 36 hours before his serious injuries and did not constitute an employee under California's workers compensation laws as defined in Labor Code section 3352(h). Our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers argued that the Pittman couple retained Quinata’s employer as a contractor without first verifying the competence and fitness of this contractor to perform the work. For instance, they failed to determine whether the contractor they hired had the proper license to perform the construction work. The Pittmans also maintained a dangerous condition on their property by having unstable scaffolding on the job site.

This worker was put to great anguish and trauma because of improperly designed and constructed scaffolding, erected on unstable ground. A construction worker may be greatly incapacitated and unable to work because of injuries like the ones that Mr. Quintana suffered. Accidents like these do not need to occur on a construction worksite. Scaffolding accidents are some of the most common on a construction worksite, and can be prevented if scaffolding is designed properly, constructed using high-quality materials and correctly placed on stable ground.