$650,000 SETTLEMENT – WORKER BURNED IN EXCAVATION

We represented an excavating contractor working on replacing underground pipes at the Delta Diablo Sanitation Plant in Pittsburg, California. A broken copper line carrying pressurized oxygen leaked oxygen that ignited, causing a worker at the bottom of an excavation to catch on fire. Our client jumped down into the pit to use his body to cover the victim to put out the flames. Our client received second and third degree burns when he attempted to putout the flames on the body of his fellow worker. The defendants refused to pay an adequate amount for a settlement, so we took them to trial. After several trial days and after the jury heard the emotional and dramatic testimony of our client, the defendants paid our demand and the case settled.