A Pennsylvania man will receive $26.55 million in a record-breaking personal injury case. The settlement is the largest in history for personal injury cases in Pennsylvania.
David Williams was working as a landscaper for the company TruGreen Corp. in 2011 at the time of his accident. He contends that his employers ServiceMaster Co., the owner of TrueGreen Corp., along with Dickinson Fleet Services LLC were negligent in their maintenance of the truck Williams drove for his job.
Williams was driving the truck when he suddenly lost control and swerved off the road due to a bald tire. The force of the accident ejected him from the truck and caused a fractured spinal cord that has required multiple surgeries. The resulting injuries left Williams a quadriplegic, with no feeling below his chest and very limited mobility in his arms and hands.
On the day of the crash, a field-service technician from Dickinson Fleet Services noted that the tread of the rear right tire of Williams’ 2005 Ford-350 truck was too thin, but neither Dickinson Fleet Services nor ServiceMaster Co. chose to take action.
The $26.55 million settlement is being divided among the responsible parties: ServiceMaster Co. and TruGreen Corp. must pay $16.75 million, Dickinson Fleet Services will pay $9.5 million, and the remaining $300,000 will be paid by Brooks Auto Repair, a company that worked on the truck.
Though the case was decided through a settlement and did not go to trial, the attorney for Williams was ready to prove how the simple act of following safety standards and replacing a tire or taking the truck out of service for the day could have prevented the devastating injury to Williams.
The 32-year-old Williams, who is married with three children, currently requires constant nursing and assistance with basic daily activities. Several times each night he must be woken and repositioned. Experts in the case estimated that the total lifetimes costs for Williams’ injuries will be in the millions.
According to the United States Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), 4,821 workers died on the job in 2014. That same year there were over 3 million reported nonfatal injuries and illnesses, or about 3.2 injuries per every 100 full-time workers. 75% of these injuries occurred in service industries.
If you believe there are unsafe or unhealthy conditions at your workplace, you can contact OSHA and have a representative come out to inspect your workplace. These requests can be made anonymously.
All employees have the right to be protected from harm and injury in the workplace. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to your employer’s negligence, you may be eligible for compensation. Call NH’s best injury lawyers at Tenn And Tenn at (888) 332-5855 to schedule a free telephone consultation.