Larussa-Ghianni Inc. Extricated from Brain-Injury Lawsuit on Summary Judgment

January 1, 2003

William J. Snyder and Scott J. Loeding of Murchison & Cumming's San Diego office successfully extricated their client, LaRussa-Ghianni, Inc., from a brain-injury lawsuit when they prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a construction injury case. Before filing the motion for summary judgment, the settlement demand to all defendants was $5 Million.

Defendant LaRussa-Ghianni Inc., a lath and plaster subcontractor, hired plaintiff's employer to perform fireproofing work on the inside of the building. Plaintiff was a construction worker who fell approximately 30 feet down an elevator shaft while spraying fireproofing glue on the 3rd floor ceiling of a commercial building during a renovation project. Discovery revealed that safety barricades had been removed from the elevator shaft on the morning of the incident. Plaintiff testified that he was looking up at the ceiling while spraying the fireproofing material and walked into the shaft believing that it was the doorway to another room.

Plaintiff was 19 years old, with a wife and a one-year-old child. His claimed injuries included brain damage, multiple fractures to his left leg and femur, fractured jaw, loss of teeth, loss of sensation on the right side of his face, permanent scarring on his face and legs and the inability to engage in sexual relations with his wife.

His medical expenses were approximately $309,000 with at least one future surgery required for the non-union fracture of left femur. His loss of earning was approximately $26,000 and growing, with a claim for vocational rehabilitation.

The injured worker's father was also a plaintiff, claiming negligent infliction of emotional distress. The father testified that he was working approximately 20 feet from the elevator shaft and saw his son fall down the shaft. The father then ran downstairs to the base of the shaft and held his son in his arms until the ambulance arrived.

The basis for LaRussa-Ghianni's motion for summary judgment was that LaRussa-Ghianni only worked on the outside of the building as a lath and plaster subcontractor, and therefore, could not have any notice that the barricades had been removed from the elevator shaft. Further, LaRussa-Ghianni did not retain control over safety conditions at the site, did not control, supervise or participate in the fireproofing work and did not affirmatively contribute to the accident.

The court granted LaRussa-Ghianni's motion for summary judgment as to the complaint and all cross-complaints, and awarded costs to be paid to LaRussa-Ghianni of approximately $5,000.