Attorneys Argue Work Related Injury Left Employee With Pain Disorder

WEBWIRE – Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A food service employee working at a private school suffered second and third degree burns when a steam boiler spewed excess steam onto his foot and ankle. The 34 year old New Jersey man was the managing chef for a company providing food services to the defendant private school. The plaintiff argued that the resulting burns left him with the development of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a neurologic pain disorder.

The plaintiff contended that the defendant private school negligently failed to properly maintain the boiler over an extended period of time, resulting in the excessive build-up of “scale” that prevented the water from the previous day to properly drain. The plaintiff also contended that the boiler was defectively designed and should have incorporated a system that would channel excess water out of the boiler when the water level probe sensed a dangerous build-up.

The plaintiff maintained that because of the RSD, he required some 24 epidural injections performed under anesthesia which only provided temporary relief. After undergoing the implantation of a spinal cord stimulator, the plaintiff contended that he will nonetheless suffer extensive pain permanently despite some relief afforded by the stimulator.

Attorneys for the plaintiff, lawyers from the firm of Cerussi & Gunn, P.C., argued that the equipment was not only faulty, but it was not properly maintained by the school. The plaintiff settled with the manufacturer some months prior to trial for $600,000.00. The case against the private school settled before any judicial ruling on whether the school would be precluded from pursuing a cross-claim against the manufacturer for $1,800,000.00, yielding a total recovery of $2,400,000.00.

Cerussi & Gunn, P.C., is a specialty law firm practicing in the fields of medical malpractice, medical negligence, nursing home abuse or neglect, wrongful death, and significant and catastrophic personal injury. Their lawyers also handle legal malpractice cases where the underlying claim that was mishandled by the client’s prior attorney involved either medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death, or nursing home malpractice/neglect. Lastly, the firm’s lawyers handle claims for injured railroad workers under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA).

The firm has offices in Monmouth County, NJ (serving all counties in NJ including surrounding counties of Ocean County, Middlesex County, and Mercer County), and on Long Island in Nassau County (serving NY counties including surrounding counties of Suffolk and Queens).

More information on this case can be found at http://www.cerussilawfirm.com/CM/Custom/TOCPracticeAreaDescriptions.asp

Contact:
Charles A. Cerussi, Esq.
Cerussi & Gunn, P.C.
212.841.0900 - NY
732.936.9920 – NJ
ccerussi@cerussilawfirm.com
Web: cerussilawfirm.com