Current Cases Workplace Injuries

In April 2018, our client was working as a medical supply technician at a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time of the accident, he was transporting a cart of medical supplies from one floor to another. As our client pushed the cart onto the elevator, the doors closed, the lights went out and the elevator violently plummeted to the basement level. Once the elevator stopped, our client located the alarm button and called for help. When the elevator doors finally opened, the elevator floor was not flush with the basement floor and our client had to be assisted out of the elevator by another employee. Our client immediately felt sharp stabbing pains in his left leg and neck, causing him to seek immediate medical attention. As a result of the accident, our client sustained serious personal injuries to his back and neck, and he also incurred serious psychological injuries including PTSD and a phobia of elevators. We initially filed suit in court on behalf of our client, however, due to a successful negotiation we avoided the need for trial as we obtained a satisfactory confidential settlement for our client. ***Individual results may vary based on the facts, injuries, jurisdiction, venue, witnesses, parties, and other factors. This result is not necessarily representative of the results obtained by all clients.***

Our client was on the job, working as a laborer for a farm co-op when he was asked to make a repair to the grain silo. He was placed in a bosun chair with a harness and was suspended from a crane by a third-party crane operator. As our client was hoisted into the air, his leg became entangled with a cable causing extreme pressure and discomfort. As he was lifted higher the entangled cable became even tighter around his leg. The crane operator was unable to see or hear our client, and the designated spotter, who is assigned for these types of situations, had stepped away, leaving our client’s screams for help unheard. Due to severe pain in his right leg and hip, our client was forced to seek treatment at the Blanchard Valley Medical Center emergency room. Radiological studies revealed a contusion to the right hip and hip sprain. A week later our client was evaluated by a medical provider for a Workers’ Compensation claim status. The pain was described as 8/10, radiating in nature from the right hip into the right leg with increased pain during movement. He was directed to physical therapy and occupational therapy along with work restrictions requiring sitting work only. Our client eventually consulted with a surgical specialist who opined he sustained a right hip crush injury. Our client continued to have throbbing, stabbing pain in his leg which was exacerbated by any type of motion with the right hip, including walking. For pain management our client began to receive right hip injections but continued to have symptoms of numbness and tingling. After reporting to the ER for discoloration of the leg, an MRI was performed showing a herniated disc at L5-S1. Our client was referred to a neurosurgeon who eventually performed an L5-S1 microdiskectomy and repair of a dural tear. Unfortunately, our client continued to experience pain in his back, hip and leg. After many consultations and MRIs, our client underwent a second surgery of the L5-S1 for decompression and anterior fusion which required four screws placed into the lumbar spine. Our client followed up with physical therapy and conservative rehab. After another MRI was performed, a right hip labral tear was revealed which required our client to have further surgery to his right hip. After numerous surgeries, years of physical therapy, and a substantial amount of time off work, our client recovered and was able to return to work. A workers’ compensation claim was initially pursued for our client’s medical treatment and time off work. However, to maximize recovery, our office filed a personal injury lawsuit against the crane operator and crane company. The litigation became complicated when the crane company filed a Third-Party Complaint against our client’s employer in an attempt to shift the blame. After a hard-fought litigation the parties reached a settlement resulting in an initial lump sum payment to our client and additional monthly payments being made over several years.  

On a spring afternoon our client was traveling, in a company vehicle, along State Route 101 in Margaretta Township, Erie County, at a speed of approximately 50 mph. Another driver, operating an employer-owned-truck full of iron, failed to yield while exiting a private drive and entered State Route 101, crossing into our client’s path of travel. Our client was unable to avoid the other driver and struck the front driver’s side of the vehicle head-on, totaling the vehicle he was operating. Our client went to the Emergency Room where he complained of pain, swelling and bruising. On discharge he was diagnosed with cervical sprain, shoulder sprain, and contusion of the left lower leg. He then followed up with his primary care doctor who took him off work and referred him to physical therapy. An x-ray showed substantial aggravation of pre-existing C3-C6 disc degeneration, and a left leg and knee injury. Our client underwent two months of physical therapy for his neck consisting of manual therapy, joint mobilization, neuromuscular re-education techniques, therapeutic exercise and electrical stimulation. A further MRI showed compression of the spinal cord and our client was advised to see a surgeon as he was at risk for permanent damage to his spinal cord. Our client then underwent chiropractic treatment and was diagnosed with cervical disc syndrome, cervical spondylosis with myelopathy and cervical spinal stenosis. He completed treatment which consisted of three times a week for four weeks.  He then had an MRI of his lower leg which showed visible scarring of the fascia of the pretibial muscles. Our client was told he had permanent scarring and his leg pain most likely would not resolve. In total our client treated for his accident-related injuries for approximately five years. He underwent two neck surgeries which required a discectomy, arthrodesis, and fusion of his C4-C6 vertebra with the fixation of bilateral mass screws. His medical bills totaled well over six-figures.  Due to the effects of his injuries, he eventually lost his employment as a Senior Mechanical Engineer. By the age of 49 our client was unemployed and facing a lifetime of pain and future medical care. Our office initially represented our client for a Workers’ Compensation Claim, assisting him process his needed medical treatment through the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. We then filed suit in the Erie County Common Pleas against the at-fault driver and the company that employed the at-fault driver. The team at Charles Boyk Law Office worked hard and obtained a $425,000.00 settlement on behalf of our client.

Construction manager falls off roof of building while climbing down a ladder set up by a subcontractor. Major liability dispute on whether the setup was negligent, and who was responsible for the setup. Client suffered a fractured shoulder and then a stroke in the hospital.

In 2014, our client sustained serious and permanent injuries when he was injured while on the job. Our client worked as a laborer for a metal roofing company in Wood County, Ohio, where he reported to various work sites throughout Northwest, Ohio. On the day of this horrific accident, our client had been hired to go to a job site and perform a “tear off,” a process where the company completely removed an old and damaged roof. While our client was on the roof working, he fell through the roof, falling 20 feet and landing violently on the hard concrete floor below him. Our client was quickly transported from the worksite to an area hospital via ambulance to treat his injuries. At the hospital, our client was found to have sustained severe fractures to his lumbar spine, left arm, and wrist. He was admitted to the hospital for the next four days and underwent surgery to repair the fracture to his wrist which required surgeons placing pins in his wrist to stabilize the injury. He was also required to undergo surgery to treat his spinal injury.  After the accident, our client experienced a lack of mobility due to his spinal injury and was severely limited in the function of his wrist. After this initial treatment course, our client required an extensive amount of follow up appointments, physical therapy, and several more surgical procedures to continue treating his injuries. Due to the lengthy recovery period and limitations our client incurred because of the accident; he was unable to work for a significant period of time. When he was finally able to return to work, he was not able to work in the same capacity that he did prior to the accident. We were retained to assist our client shortly after this accident occurred. We filed suit in the Common Pleas Court of Wood County, but through successful negotiations we avoided trial and obtained a large settlement for our client. The settlement we recovered on his behalf will go a long way to account for his pain and suffering. ***Individual results may vary based on the facts, injuries, jurisdiction, venue, witnesses, parties, and other factors. This result is not necessarily representative of the results obtained by all clients.***

What started out as a normal day of work quickly turned into a day our client will never forget when he sustained severe and permanent injuries from a workplace accident. Our client was employed on a concrete pouring job that his employer had been contracted to perform by the defendants. That day, our client was tasked with operating the concrete hose used to distribute the concrete. Another company, named as a defendant in this case, was responsible for delivering the concrete in an aerial concrete pump truck that was owned by one of the defendants. Due to a delay of approximately half an hour in delivering the concrete to the work site, the pump truck sat idle and this caused the concrete to harden. Without performing necessary safety checks, a negligent defendant restarted the aerial concrete pump without cleaning out the hose or checking for debris such as hardened concrete. Unfortunately, the concrete pump hose was plugged with hardened concrete after sitting idle. When it was turned on, pressure continued to build up until it suddenly whipped violently around and flung our client into a concrete wall, causing loss of consciousness and other severe injuries. At the hospital, doctors determined that our client had a traumatic brain injury, several broken ribs, an injury to his back, a spinal injury, and a collapsed lung. In addition to the physical injuries our client sustained, he also suffered from severe psychological impairments after the accident. Prior to the accident, our client was a healthy and able-bodied man. Now, he now has depression, anxiety, mental deficits, and continued pain from his injuries. Nearly five years after the accident, he was found to still be “completely unemployable” due to the severe and persisting nature of his injuries. Our client and his wife contacted the Charles Boyk Law Offices to assist them with the aftermath of this traumatic accident. On behalf of our client, we filed a lawsuit in the Lucas County Common Pleas Court against several defendants, though trial was successfully avoided as we were able to obtain a large settlement for our client.