Sinas Dramis Attorneys Achieve Million Dollar Settlement for Clients in Home Construction Injury
Sinas Dramis Law Firm Attorneys James Graves, and Steven Weston, are pleased to announce they’ve reached a settlement in the amount of $1,000,000 on behalf of their clients, who were injured during a home construction project.
“We are pleased that at the end of complex and sometimes contentious litigation our client’s serious life-changing injuries were recognized and compensated,” said Attorney Steve Weston. “With hard work and a strong belief in our client we were able to obtain a just result.”
Home Construction Injury: Case Explanation
Plaintiff “Jane Doe”, an upper peninsula resident, and her husband contracted with a local builder to build an addition on their home. They wanted a garage and a new master bedroom with a walk-in closet. The garage was to be attached and the new master bedroom was over the garage, with access from the old master bedroom. The builder hired a local drywall company to perform the drywall work in the addition.
When it came time to begin the drywall installation, the builder’s employees cut a hole in the floor of the new master bedroom large enough to allow the sheets of drywall to be lifted through the hole and into the master bedroom. Unfortunately, the builder, who was the general contractor, failed to ensure that the hole would be covered at the end of each day with the flooring cutouts as he had promised. The sub-contractor’s drywall company employees also failed to cover the hole securely with the cutout flooring. Instead, these employees simply placed a large piece of 2″ foam board over the top of the hole- completely hiding and obscuring the hole.
One evening, Jane Doe wanted to see the progress of what would become her new walk-in closet. The entire family went upstairs to look. Jane Doe was carrying her infant son and Mr. Doe held the hand of their older child as they entered the new master bedroom. Not realizing that there was an unsecured hole under the 2″ foam board, Jane Doe stepped in that area and fell through the foam board and down through the hole to the cement surface ten feet below with her infant child in her arms.
By not bracing herself for contact with the cement, Jane was able to protect her baby from serious injury. Jane took the brunt of the impact. Jane Doe suffered serious orthopedic injuries to the knee, leg and ankle. Jane has suffered through multiple surgeries on her knee and ankle. The loss of full function and painful sequalae will be permanent.
After litigating involved concepts within construction law, efforts to resolve the case floundered. The so-called conservative U.P. venue was one of the defendants’ arguments to limit damages. Settlement months prior to trial was finally obtained in the amount of $1 million dollars total between the two defendants.
Sinas Dramis Law Firm: Excellence, Integrity, Results
Sinas Dramis Law Firm attorneys have handled these types of cases for more than 70 years and continue to uphold a proud tradition of providing excellence in legal representation for our clients. This most recent settlement is just one example of how our attorneys have fought for the rights of those injured in Michigan. With offices in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and St. Clair Shores, our attorneys are capable of handling cases all across Michigan and happily provide potential clients with a free consultation. Learn more at the links below.