Broward carpenter gets $75,000 settlement from hardware chain

A 55-year-old carpenter was shopping in the lumber section of a popular hardware chain and found the exact door he wanted to purchase. He was able to find an industrial shopping cart that was large enough to carry the heavy door. He could not lift the door and place it into the cart himself because the door was quite large and weighed close to 100 pounds. He was able to get the attention of an employee of the store who was walking through the aisle. The employee offered to help our client lift the door and place it into the cart but he never bothered to put away the other items he was carrying. The two men were able to get the door off of the shelf and were just about to place the door in the cart when the employee let go of his end of the door. Our client held onto his end of the door, however, which caused his body to be yanked forward, injuring his neck and shoulder.

Fort Lauderdale carpenter injures neck and shoulders in hardware incident

Initially stunned, our client walked away from the door, which had fallen onto the floor, and tried to walk off the pain. He walked to the end of the aisle and then came back to the area where the door had fallen. Still in an extreme amount of pain, he decided he would complain to the manager of the hardware store. He met with the manager who asked him to fill out an incident report. The incident report reflected that our client dropped a heavy door, thus injuring his neck and shoulders, but did not place blame on the employee. Our client was in too much pain to notice the discrepancy and decided he would sign the report as soon as possible so that he could go home and place ice on his neck and shoulders.

Fort Lauderdale carpenter seeks medical attention for his injuries

After several days of lying in bed and placing ice on his injuries, our client knew that his injuries were not resolving on their own. He decided to seek the medical attention of a board-certified orthopedist. The orthopedist immediately ordered an MRI of our client’s right shoulder and cervical spine (neck). The MRI of the cervical spine was unremarkable but the MRI of the right shoulder revealed supraspinatus with bursitis. This was surely the cause of our client’s painful symptoms. The orthopedist recommended several series of pain-relieving injections for the right shoulder. Our client immediately began to receive injection therapy and continued on a regimen for approximately five months. As a result, our client reported a great decrease in pain.

Fort Lauderdale attorneys Dell and Schaefer claim negligence against popular hardware chain

Our attorneys alleged that the hardware store employee was negligent in several ways. He attempted to help a customer lift a large and heavy item instead of asking another employee to help him place the customer’s item into the cart. We argued that he was further negligent by failing to put away the items he was carrying prior to helping the customer lift the door. The insurance company for the hardware chain did not agree that their employee was negligent and pointed to the incident report, which did not state that the employee had any involvement in the incident. We requested surveillance of the incident but found unfortunately that there were no surveillance cameras fixed on the lumber aisle of the store. Our client was adamant however that the employee dropped his end of the door without any warning.

Attorneys Dell and Schaefer prepare case for a lawsuit

Our attorneys had no choice but to prepare our client’s case for a lawsuit. It was apparent that the insurance company for the hardware store would not be accepting any liability for our client’s injuries. Prior to filing suit, we were contacted by attorneys for the hardware store who wanted to attempt to resolve the case at a pre-suit mediation. We scheduled the mediation in an effort to avoid expensive litigation. Though the attorneys for the hardware store initially maintained that they were not negligent in any way, they were moved by our client’s rendition of the incident and determined that our client was a respectable and honest person. After several hours of negotiation, our attorneys were able to negotiate a $75,000 settlement on behalf of our client. This settlement enabled our client to pay any and all outstanding medical bills and also compensated him for his pain and suffering and inconvenience. Our client was relieved to know that he did not need to testify at trial and that his claim could be amicably settled without the need for litigation.