Jim’s client, an asbestos removal contractor, was injured while performing his job at a Port Authority site. While working on a beam more than fifteen feet above the ground, he disconnected his harness to move from one beam to the next. While moving, he slipped and fell onto rubble below. He suffered a severe head injury. The Port Authority denied the claim, arguing that the fall was Jim’s client’s fault.



After reviewing thousands of pages of documents from the Port Authority, Jim learned that only two days before the accident, the Port Authority had removed cables that were strung across the building. These cables were the part of the fall protection system upon which Jim’s client was to hook his harness. In the absence of these cables, Jim learned that the Port Authority provided no other means of adequate fall protection for workers at the site. This meant, that to move from one location to another high above the ground, Jim’s client had to unhook from one beam and hook to another leaving him exposed to this fall between hook-ups. In order to prove this, Jim hired a former OSHA inspector and construction safety expert who outlined this dangerous fall protection scenario at the time of our client’s fall.

Shortly before jury selection, Jim was able to settle the matter for $950,000.