James De Luca v. J.T. Furrey, Inc. et al. (2009)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

This is a civil action wherein the plaintiff is seeking money damages from the defendant J.T. Furrey, Incorporated for injuries sustained and losses incurred as the result of an accident that occurred on February 1, 2006.   The plaintiff has filed an amended one-count complaint alleging that the injuries and losses sustained by the plaintiff were caused by the defendants' reckless disregard for the safety of the plaintiff.

The defendant was defaulted for failure to appear for trial on November 25, 2009.   This court heard the case as a hearing in damages on December 10, 2009.

The allegations of the complaint, which are deemed to be admitted by virtue of the default, are that the plaintiff was employed by the defendant as a construction worker at a site located in North Haven, Connecticut, that the plaintiff was working in an unprotected twelve-foot trench, and that the trench collapsed dumping soil and multiple chunks of asphalt pavement onto the plaintiff resulting in serious personal injuries and losses to the plaintiff.   The complaint alleges that the collapse of the trench and the resultant injuries and losses were caused by the reckless disregard for the safety of the plaintiff in that, in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the defendant failed to instruct his employees in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions, failed to support the open trench with underground installation, failed to support all nearby surface encumbrances, failed to provide safe means of egress from the trench, failed to keep excavated material an adequate distance from the trench, failed to protect employees in an excavation from cave-ins by the use of an adequate protective system, and failed to provide a safe work environment or to train its employees on proper safety procedures.

As a result of the reckless disregard for the safety of the plaintiff the trench collapsed on the plaintiff causing the following serious, painful, and permanent personal injuries:  multiple pelvic fractures and contusions, greater trochanteric bursitis, coccydynia, urethral tear, urethral stricture, and injuries to his right knee.   The plaintiff has suffered from pain which interferes with the daily affairs of his life and has suffered from a severe shock to his entire nervous system.

As a result of the injuries suffered by the plaintiff he has expanded sums of money for ambulance services, hospitals, doctors, x-rays, diagnostic tests, medicines, physical therapy, and may be forced to expand further such sums in the future.   The plaintiff has a life expectancy of 48.2 years.

The court finds that economic damages are $19,205.17, that fair reasonable non-economic damages are $240,000, and that fair and reasonable attorneys fees are $80,000.

A judgment may enter in favor of the plaintiff as against the defendant J.T. Furrey, Incorporated in the amount of $339,205.17

William L. Hadden, Jr.

Judge Trial Referee

Hadden, William L., J.T.R.