Largest Workplace Electrocution Settlement in Texas
Our client was hired as an independent contractor to run fiber optics across utility poles on a fiber-to-the-home project spanning approximately 3,000 miles in East Texas. He suffered third-degree electrical burns when his equipment incidentally came into contact with the electric primary.
Victor’s burns were severe and required him to spend a week in the hospital and undergo multiple skin graft surgeries.
The Companies All Blamed Our Client for the Incident
We filed suit against the electric co-op, the design engineers, the general contractor, the make-ready construction contractor, and the subcontractor that hired Victor as an independent contractor. Initially, all of these companies blamed Victor, claiming:
- He should been able to recognize the difference between a neutral line and a primary;
- He should have known he needed to keep a proper clearance distance between himself and any type of powerline;
- He should have worn proper protective equipment (he was not wearing insulated gloves);
- He should used an insulated bucket truck, instead of climbing the pole;
- He and his crew should have done a job safety analysis to recognize the hazards before beginning work, etc.
We Took Over 20 Depositions to Prove the Companies Failed to Comply with National Safety Requirements
We proved that the construction specifications for the project contradicted the National Electric Safety Code, and compromised worker safety. We took over 20 depositions, where we proved that
- none of the companies in charge of the project realized there were different types of power construction,
- the construction specifications were at odds with the NESC
- none of the companies in charge were vetting subcontractors, like Victor, for their knowledge and experience in working around powerlines
- the companies in charge were not performing adequate quality control on each other’s work before sending communication workers, like Victor, out in the field.
The Defendants Settled for a Record Amount Days Before Trial
We argued that each of these companies’ negligence built on one another, and created a snowball effect. The mounting negligence by all of companies culminated in Victor—who, by all accounts was unqualified to be working in this particular sector of the project—working on a utility pole and getting catastrophically burned.
The defendants settled for a confidential – and record-setting amount – days before trial.
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