Case details
Plaintiff claimed no notice of empty elevator shaft at job site
SUMMARY
$992000
Amount
Settlement
Result type
Not present
Ruling
KEYWORDS
back, fracture
FACTS
On April 16, 2010, plaintiff Michael Millis, 40, a fire sprinkler installer, arrived at a private home in Sunland, which was nearly completed being constructed, in order to install beauty rings over fire sprinklers as part of his first day on the job. As Millis opened a wooden door, which he assumed was for a bathroom or closet, and stepped through while looking up to see if it contained a sprinkler, he stepped into an empty elevator shaft and fell approximately 12 feet. Millis sued the general contractor, Villa Nova Developing Inc.; its owner who hired Millis, Andrew Nowaczek; the provider of the elevator, Home Elevator Corp.; the contractor who did the framing on the elevator shaft, Larrabure Framing; and the property owner, Shadow Hills, LLC. He alleged the defendants failed to warn of the elevator, creating a dangerous condition. Millis claimed that he was not aware there was an empty elevator shaft in the house, and that Nowaczek and Villa Nova Developing knew that it was his first day on the job, but failed to mention anything about the empty shaft. He alleged that the door to the elevator shaft contained no warning sign or caution tape, and that the door was not boarded shut. Thus, Millis asserted that the unmarked, empty elevator shaft constituted a dangerous condition, and that Villa Nova Developing and Nowaczek failed to take reasonable safety precautions. Villa Nova Developing and Nowaczek contended that they informed Millis of the empty elevator shaft. All the defendants further contended that Millis should have been aware of the elevator shaft before he came on the job site, as there were plans available to him that could be reviewed., Millis was taken to a hospital immediately after the accident with complaints of pain in his back and right arm, forearm and elbow. Within days, Millis began experiencing pain in the left shoulder and both knees, elbows and ankles. He subsequently underwent a surgery to his right elbow on Sept. 7, 2010, as well as to his right bicep. On Dec. 21, 2010, he had a surgery on his left shoulder and on April 4, 2011, he underwent surgery on his left ankle. Millis also sustained thoracic fractures at the T5-6 and T6-7 levels, which are still untreated. Millis claimed he is unable to return to work or do simple everyday tasks, such as house cleaning and grocery shopping. He also noted that he married plaintiff Denise Richards Millis on April 10, 2010, six days prior to the accident. As a result, Mrs. Millis sought recovery of damages for loss of consortium.
COURT
Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Glendale, CA
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INJURIES:
- anxiety
- brain
- brain damage
- brain injury
- cognition
- depression
- epidural
- extradural hematoma
- face
- facial bone
- fracture
- head
- headaches
- hearing
- impairment
- insomnia
- loss of
- mental
- nose
- psychological
- scapula
- sensory
- shoulder
- skull
- speech
- subdural hematoma
- tinnitus
- traumatic brain injury
- vision
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