Current Cases Workplace Injuries

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.

Our client was instructed by his boss to stand in a debris-littered bucket of a backhoe so he could be lifted between nine and eleven feet in the air to fix some low-hanging cable and telephone wires. His employer never instructed our client to wear a safety harness, and while he was attempting to fix the wires, he came in contact with an energized electrical line and suffered a severe electrical shock - all while his boss was allegedly on his cell phone.

7200 volts of electrical current went through his right hand and across his chest before blowing out his left wrist. He was thrown out of the backhoe bucket and fell several feet. Our client sufferedd cardiac arrest and was defibrillated three times before his heartbeat was restored. He was taken straight to the hospital, where he remained in an induced coma for 28 days following the accident. He then spend an additional 87 days in the hospital enduring a slow and painful recovery. Our firm was able to obtain a confidential settlement for our client that was able to compensate him for more than $1 million in medical bills and his pain and suffering.

Confidential Settlement

DISCLAIMER: The results are specific to the facts and legal circumstances of each of the clients' cases and should not be used to form an expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client's case.

A leaky freezer at a local Wal-Mart caused an employee to slip and fall while working, resulting in a shattered kneecap.

She was rushed to the hospital where the knee cap was re-constructed in emergency surgery. Not only has she endured extreme pain and a lengthy recovery, she will never be able to kneel on the ground again.

Confidential Settlement

DISCLAIMER: The results are specific to the facts and legal circumstances of each of the clients' cases and should not be used to form an expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client's case.