A bizarre tragedy has struck at a construction site in New Jersey where Gary Anderson, 58, was hit and killed by a falling tape measure from 50 stories above. The one-pound tape measure came off a construction worker and hit Anderson who had just stopped to speak with another worker in a pick up truck.
The implausibility of the accident was magnified by the fact that the tape measure first dislodged from the belt of the worker and then hit construction equipment some 10 feet off the ground — only to ricochet and hit Gary Anderson.
There were so many factors in the chain of events that had to occur precisely to produce this result from a brief chat to the angle of the ricochet.
Obviously, there was negligence in the loss of the tape measure but the danger of falling objects is a long-standing danger for construction sites. Moreover, Anderson was not wearing a hard hat — a basic safety requirement at all such sites. Anderson worked for an independent trucking company delivering product for Charlotte, N.C. based National Gypsum. He was delivering sheet rock.
The absence of the hard hat would make a lawsuit difficult, though there can be recovery under worker’s compensation for the family.
Source: NJ
Please remember the tape didn’t fall 50 stories and hit him, it bounced off a piece of equipment and then hit him. That means the velocity was much less. I’m sure there’s plenty of research and history on what a construction helmet can and can’t protect a person from. Its not like this hasn’t happened before, or helmets are new, unproven pieces of equipment. No doubt the company will settle out of court because who knows what a bunch of nimrod jurists will think. Remember OJ?
NS –
Your uninformed claim about weaknesses on the left and right – is obviously
nothing more than a bloviation – like readers have come to expect from partisans who simply can’t defend their simplistic, evidence-free claims.
Here’s your sign.
mespo – you are an intellectual elitist. I used to work with a guy with a 4th grade education who could do trig in his head. Couldn’t do it on paper, but the man was a genius. His family put him to work after the fourth grade because they needed more money and he was never able to go back to school.
In America we believe in the self-made man or woman. Bill Gates only has a high school diploma btw. He is a college drop out. His partner went back to college to complete his degree, not sure if he did.
Nicky —
Don’t wimp out. Stop being a “post bs, then run” blowhard.
ns – kindly explain what you mean, by way of giving an example of an issue e.g.
income tax. as you see it, what’s the weakness on the left and on the right.
Thanks, I’ll hold. Go ahead.
Mark, I missed your comment on NJ work comp law. Thanks. What is the contributory negligence/joint and several liability law for civil lawsuits?
Paul, The deceased not wearing a helmet will be factored into the equation. But rarely would a jury find the deceased 100% contributory negligence. If he’s a 30 year old guy, making 80k a year, that means his widow lost $2.8 million in income, not even adjusting for inflation. Then there is loss of consortium, pain and suffering, etc. You can put together a $5 million damages demand letter easily, probably more. So, let’s say the deceased was 80% negligent, which is high. The widow still has a cool million she is owed. The defendant[s] will not want to roll the dice that a generous jury, feeling bad for the widow, will only say the deceased was say 20% negligent, and be also generous on the loss of consortium, etc. Almost all civil suits settle[~90%]. This case could settle for serious dough, easily 5 figures. This is how the game works.
Nick – I am aware of how the “game” works. I just don’t think it should work that way.
Darren, The state where I did most of my investigations is Wi. For a bit of history, Wi. is where work comp was created. Wi. indemnifies employers from liability w/ the exception you stated, gross negligence. Not all states do. When I worked in Illinois an employee could sue their employer, that may have changed. Each state is different. I don’t know NJ work comp laws. But, there are often other avenues to explore, particularly on a large construction site w/ many other contractors, subcontractors, etc. There’s a good chance the guy wearing the tape measure was not working for the same company as the deceased. The plaintiff’s attorney will investigate all the contractors and subs working on the site and what insurance they had. They’ll interview or depose the guy who lost the tape measure. They’ll inspect his work belt to see if it was defective. There you might have a product liability action to pursue.
ns – kindly explain what you mean, by way of giving an example of an issue e.g.
income tax. as you see it, what’s the weakness on the left and on the right.
Thanks, I’ll hold. Go ahead.
I wonder if this state has workers’ compensation laws that would indemnify an employer from liability unless the conduct represents gross negligence, which might be difficult to prove in this case since it is an ordinary event for objects to fall in a construction zone.
Darren – You make a good point. The reason you wear a hard hat is because things regularly fall on you from above. He had a helmet, I am sure there are signs saying “Wear Your Helmet At All Times!!!!” The negligence is on the ‘victim.’ I feel bad for the guy whose tape measure dropped. He is probably going through his own personal hell right now.
Excuse me, they may recover so long as the injured persons conduct is less than the actors conduct.
So long as the negligence on the part of the injured person in New Jersey, they may still recover damages. WC is not the exclusive remedy.
Darren, Both sides will hire experts on that very issue. Both sides will conduct tests replicating the accident. But here’s the problem, it’s not easy to purposely hit an item as small as a hard hat from 50 stories high. It would be fun being the person dropping the test tape measure. The expert will be on the ground observing and videotaping the crash test dummy wearing the helmet. Since it will take some time, they should listen to some Crash Test Dummy tunes.
Nick – It is the fault of the gremlins from Dead Like Me. It will never be replicated.
I believe one factor that could potentially weaken the argument that the deceased was not wearing a hard hat would be that the tape measure was travelling at such velocity that the hard hat might not have mattered. I don’t know if that was the case as far as the physics of the event were, but it might be a factor.
My thoughts are with him and his family. Of late I have been going to Jersey City and been parking on Warren/Morgan which isn’t far from Marin/Christopher Columbus and I walk by construction sites too as this area of JC has been building up fast.
Thank god NJ has the most totalitarian gun laws in the country. At least this man was not shot on a construction site. Good going NJ!
Years ago, here in CA, a man was driving a car on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) with his sunroof open. A rock fell from the cliff above, straight through the sunroof, and killed him. Instead of going out of control and smashing into everyone driving around him, the car glided straight ahead, onto the shoulder, and came to a stop.
They say he had his hard hat sitting in his truck, doing him no good.
Nick – How awful. That must have been awful to see those men dangling but be unable to save them in time.
The worst construction accident I worked was @ the State of Illinois Building in the loop. It was a large project back in the 80’s. 5 workers were being lifted up in a cage after lunch break. The cage was not supposed to be used for people, only equipment. There was an elevator. As the men got near the top of the building, the cage broke. 3 men fell immediately to their death. The other 2 held on for a few seconds but then also fell to their death. I interviewed the crane operator. A soft spoken man of eastern Europe descent. It was a tough interview. I often wonder if he recovered form that trauma. Imagine the guilt he felt.
I went to many construction accident sites to investigate accidents. I always wore a hard hat. I was negligent not wearing goggles. I had safety sunglasses but often had to take those off. This will be a civil lawsuit and the contributory negligence of the plaintiff not wearing a helmet will be factored in.
Makes one wonder about whether there is uncertainty and randomness in the universe making this event a tragic accident or whether there are cause and effect forces making it a certainty since the beginning of time.
Al – this is the sort of thing that reminds you of the show Dead Like Me. We should have video of a Reaper.
OHSA is still going to hit them with a big fine.