Construction Worker’s Damages Award Significantly Reduced on Appeal

Last month, in Fortune v New York City Hous. Auth. (2022 NY Slip Op 00169), the Second Department heard an appeal to reduce damages awarded to a construction worker after a co-worker fell on him on a job in Brooklyn in 2016. The defendants, which included the New York City Housing Authority, argued that previously decided cases involving similar injuries indicated that the $3,000,000 damages award in this case was excessive. 

The plaintiff, who was working as a roofer at the time of the accident, suffered multiple injuries. These include hip socket fractures which required surgery, needing a total hip replacement, and living with a permanent limb length discrepancy of almost two inches. At the initial trial, the jury awarded $3,000,000 in pain and suffering damages. However, after hearing defendants’ arguments on appeal, the Second Department agreed that similar cases showed that the jury award was excessive, and reduced the award to $2,000,000. The jury also awarded the plaintiff $1,006,000 to cover medical expenses, which the defendants did not dispute.