GWC partners Louis C. Cairo and Michael D. Fisher and attorney Lawrence J. Amato have obtained a $6,375,000.00 settlement for a union electrician who suffered bilateral shoulder injuries when he was electrocuted by a faulty light fixture.
Fixture Becomes Dangerously Electrified
On July 24, 2017, a 59-year-old union electrician was installing a light fixture at a construction site in Lincolnshire, IL. When the electrician connected the fixture to a power source, its housing became dangerously electrified, causing him to suffer bilateral shoulder injuries and electrical burns to both hands.
In an initial effort to treat the electrician’s injuries, his physicians performed three separate surgeries on his right shoulder. When these surgeries proved unsuccessful, he had to undergo reverse shoulder replacement to the right shoulder and subsequently had the same surgery on the left shoulder.
GWC Establishes Strict Product Liability
The union electrician retained an injury lawyer for this serious case who filed only a workers compensation claim. The client then discharged the firm and retained GWC Injury Lawyers. Immediately upon investigating the case, GWC partner, Michael D. Fisher, recognized a viable product liability claim existed and GWC filed suit against the manufacturer of the defective light fixture, arguing that it had negligently failed to implement reasonable quality control procedures for the assembly of the light fixture at its New Jersey factory, resulting in the fixture being defectively assembled.
GWC then uncovered evidence supporting its negligence and strict product liability theories against the manufacturer. The firm found that the Defendant limited its quality control during the manufacturing process solely to plugging completed fixtures into a power source. If a fixture’s bulb lit up, the fixture was considered safe. If it did not, the fixture was returned to the line for repair.
Additionally, GWC determined that the faulty wiring of the fixture in question would have been visible and discoverable by the most basic of visual inspections, which appeared to have never taken place. In fact, the Defendant’s engineers admitted under oath that the subject fixture was not properly wired, and the fixture would not actually have lit up when connected to a power source during its quality control test. Therefore, the fixture should never have been distributed – not even according to the lax standards already in place at the factory.
Parties Settle Case for Over $6,000,000.00
Based upon the strength of GWC’s arguments, the Defendant agreed to settle this matter 6 weeks prior to trial for $6,000,000.00 and a waiver of $375,000.00 in workers compensation benefits due and owing to the employer’s carrier. The large amount of this settlement reflected the damages this union electrician incurred as a result of this incident, as well as the loss of consortium suffered by his wife.
“We are very pleased that the Defense considered the gravity of our client’s injuries and helped us provide him and his wife with the financial security that they lost in this incident,” said Louis C. Cairo, managing partner of GWC Injury Lawyers, who represented the Plaintiffs along with his partner Michael D. Fisher and attorney Lawrence J. Amato.
Helping Injured Victims in Illinois
To maximize your claim value, whether by settlement or trial, contact the dedicated personal injury and workers’ compensation attorneys at GWC Injury Lawyers LLC.
With more than $2.5 billion recovered in verdicts and settlements, GWC is one of the premier personal injury and workers’ compensation law firms in Illinois. At GWC, our trial lawyers have the experience, determination, resources, and reputation to get you and your family the justice and money you deserve.
Schedule a no-cost, no-obligation consultation with one of GWC’s trial lawyers today. You may call our office at (312) 999-9999 or click here to chat with a representative at any time.
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