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A Pennsylvania man from Lower Pottsgrove has been awarded a $3 million workers’ compensation settlement following injuries he sustained after being involved in an accident while employed as a highway construction worker.
The man is now a quadriplegic after being hit by a motorist while directing traffic in January 2001. According to court documents and the man’s lawyer, a settlement was reached with the Pottstown employer he worked for at the time and an insurance company.
The victim’s lawyer said the settlement was reached on Oct. 27. He further stated that, even though his firm has done as much as the law allows for his client, it isn’t enough to put the man’s life back to where it once was.
This worker’s compensation settlement, which was approved by a judge, appears to be one of the highest in the country, the man’s lawyer said.
The accident victim was 31-years-old when he was hit by a car while directing traffic as a construction flagman for Liberty Construction on a highway in Bucks County.
The victim was a husband and the father to a 6-month-old child when the accident occurred. Even though he needs 24-hour medical care, he remains “stable” and enjoys watching his son grow up, his lawyer said.
The workers’ compensation suit required years of negotiations because of complex issues relating to Medicare, Social Security and the victim’s medical needs for the remainder of his life, his lawyer said.
The accident victim also brought a personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle that hit him and the bar where the driver had supposedly been drinking the morning of the accident. Allegedly, the driver ignored an order to stop and plowed into the worker after going around several other cars.
The civil case went to trial in 2004 and the man was awarded $75.6 million by a jury. However, that amount was later reduced by a Philadelphia judge to about $38 million. The driver who hit the man was also criminally prosecuted in Bucks County Court.
Source: The Times Herald, “Lower Pottsgrove man wins worker’s comp award in Bucks crash case,” Carl Hessler Jr., Dec. 15, 2011