Gordon v. Valley Construction Development and others
- Resolution Date:
- September 1994
- Practice Areas:
- Construction Injuries
- Synopsis:
- On October 22, 1990, a 45-year-old elevator construction worker was injured while he and a co-worker were demolishing an elevator at the Hotel Don. It was Gordon's duty to assist his co-worker in removing several thousand pounds of old elevator equipment from the fifth story. There was no construction elevator and no crane available, so the co-worker decided to strip the old elevator of all safety devices and hook up the platform to a rigging system. A capstan, a large manual winch used for extremely heavy lifting, manufactured by defendant AB Chance Company, was used in the rigging. The AB Chance Company did not provide any information about the device. In fact, the capstan was shipped with only a parts list. On the day of the accident Gordon was ordered to elevate the empty elevator platform to the fifth-floor, and then to lower it to the first-story. For every foot the platform was lowered, the operator would pass six feet of rope through the capstan mechanism. Over thirty stories of rope were located next to the Gordon when he began lowering the second load. The second load "hung up" and Gordon tried to take a wrap off the capstan in order to fix the problem. In the process, all the wraps fell off the capstan and the platform began a free fall down the elevator shaft. A coil of rope tangled around Gordon's left leg and he was pulled into the elevator shaft under the falling elevator platform. Gordon's leg became wedged against a bracket in the elevator shaft, which stopped the falling elevator. In order to rescue him, Gordon's co-worker lowered him down the shaft, using the capstan. When Gordon reached the window, his leg became perpendicular to the rope and it cut through his leg, traumatically amputating his leg. The case tried to verdict.
- Attorneys:
- William Veen
- Resolution:
- $6.2 Million