Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

October 11, 2012

Construction Worker Injured on Brighton Job Site

Construction workers have dangerous jobs. When these employees leave to go to work in the morning, they know that there is a significant chance that they may get hurt. A construction worker, who was filling in a trench for sewer pipes in the Boston area, was reminded of this dreadful fact on September 27th. Working on a site formerly known as a Volkswagen dealership, the 49-year old man became wedged in between a small Bobcat machine and a pipe when the Bobcat machine tipped over. It took thirty members of the technical rescue team from the Boston Fire Department to get him out of the property now owned by Harvard University. After forty minutes of being pinned in the trench, the worker was finally removed and may have a few broken bones according to the deputy of the fire department. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital to be treated for his injuries.

Workers’ Compensation

Construction accidents, like the one mentioned above, occur frequently in the United States. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) indicates that there are a total of 4,206 worker fatalities in the private industry in the year 2010. Out of these fatalities, 774 or 18.7% are attributed to construction sites. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) was passed to “prevent workers from being killed or seriously harmed at work” and thereby created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set and enforce protective workplace safety and health hazards. According to OSHA, falls, electrocutions, struck by an object, and caught-in/between are the top four reasons why construction workers are injured and die every year.

Workers who are involved in construction accidents are burdened with extensive costs associated with their injuries. Workers’ compensation can pay for such costs in exchange for you promising not to sue your employer. In Massachusetts, workers’ compensation will usually cover your medical costs, disability payments, 60% of your average income (or greater if you become disabled due to your accident), and other compensation (including coverage for permanent disfigurement or scars and loss of function). If you are a construction worker and your injury prevents you from returning to work, you may be able to receive paid-for vocational training to get another job. Immediate family members can recover death benefits if the worker was killed on the job.
Continue reading

October 8, 2012

Worker’s Compensation Benefits for Families of Deceased Workers

by Altman & Altman

Being injured at work is an event that can dramatically change someone’s life, as well as the lives of their loved ones. Workers’ compensation provides benefits to workers who are injured on the job, which helps them pay for medical expenses and other financial burdens associated with not being able to make an income.

Learning about the death of a loved one is a traumatic experience, but what is even less comforting is knowing that you will not be able to manage the bills on your own during this difficult time. Fortunately, the government offers benefits to the family members of a deceased employee through Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation and social security programs.

Worker’s Compensation for the Deceased?

The state of Massachusetts recognizes that receiving compensation at a time when you are emotionally and financially distraught is essential to help you through this ordeal. By law, employers are required to provide workers’ compensation survivor benefits to the significant others and children of workers who died due to an injury that occurred within the workplace. Workers’ compensation will also provide $4,000 to cover burial costs for the deceased. Benefits can also include weekly compensation, equal to two-thirds of the deceased employee’s average weekly wage, at a maximum amount of $1,135.82. This maximum amount was determined to be the state’s average weekly wage for October 1, 2011 to September 20, 2012. The spouse of a deceased employee will continue to get this benefit until they remarry, and can be eligible to receive a yearly cost-of-living adjustment two years after they have begun to receive benefits.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is also here to support families during this difficult time. As of September 30, 2012, OSHA has set forward initiatives to keep families informed while it investigates fatal workplace incidents. OSHA representatives will reach out to families as early as possible in their investigation to “establish relationships with them and give families a point of contact throughout the investigation.” Should the worst occur with respect to a family member at work, it is important to keep in touch periodically with your designated OSHA representative so that you completely understand the process and ensure that you are receiving what is owed to you.
Continue reading

September 12, 2012

Recent article sheds light on eye injury and eye safety

by Altman & Altman

A new writing published on the Safety Daily Advisor’s webpage provided some excellent, and always timely, insight into the discussion of eye safety at the workplace. The crux of the piece noted that not all workplaces are required to have eyewash stations. But what’s most important is that for the places that are required, the employees should absolutely know where the eyewash stations are and how to use them effectively.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s requirements for emergency eyewashes clearly indicate that “where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency use.”

And a 2009 letter of interpretation from OSHA states that “if none of the materials used in this work area is an injurious corrosive [chemical] (as indicated by the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each product), then an emergency eyewash or shower would not be required pursuant to 1910.151(c).”
Continue reading

September 10, 2012

Construction Worker injured by falling crane

by Altman & Altman

Just a little over a week ago, on a Friday morning, August 31, 2012, an unnamed construction worker was pinned down by a piece of a crane that rolled off a trailer at Cummings Center in Beverly, Massachusetts. The worker was taken to a nearby hospital at around 10am and released only a few hours later with, thankfully, relatively minor injuries that in no way threatened his life.

According to the account of Peter O’Connor, the Deputy Fire Chief, workers were loading a piece of equipment onto a trailer when it just rolled off and injured the one employee. The man was conscious and communicative when emergency personnel arrived on the scene, and his being taken to the hospital was described as being precautionary for the most part. O’Connor went on to assert that the man was fortunate that a corner of the equipment remained caught on the trailer, keeping it from fully reaching the ground as it fell, thus mitigating the potential harm it could have inflicted.

The crew of workers hails from North Shore Marine in Salem, Massachusetts. They had recently finished a new building at the Cummings Center and only returned on the day to retrieve and remove equipment. Kevin Pelletier, owner of North Shore Marine, averred that all of his employees “are OSHA-trained and certified, all up-to-date on safety training. We put a lot of emphasis on safety,” he continued. “Everyone we work with is our family and friends.”
Continue reading

September 7, 2012

Papa John’s employees injured in scuffle with irate customer

by Altman & Altman

On Wednesday evening, September 5, 2012, two employees of a Taunton Papa John’s sat outside the front of their workplace, waiting for the police and nursing injuries. The attack on the coworkers, a man, Derek Lauber, and a woman, left the owner of the restaurant, Jonah Siegel, wondering if conducting business in the city of Taunton, with its rising crime rate, was worth the risk anymore.

Siegel owns four other Papa John’s restaurants. But after three years as proprietor of the one in Taunton, he’s beginning to question the true value of the site. Just a few weeks earlier, on August 11, a robber threatened a Papa John’s employee, a little after midnight, with a knife and made off with $1,900 of the restaurant’s money, according to Siegel. In previous months, and on the same street, a bank and a Rite Aid pharmacy were also robbed. But it was merely a small pizza and a soda that sparked the latest incident.

Police responded to the reported assault at around 7:30pm, finding the two injured employees out front and a gaping hole in the store’s front window. Lauber was bleeding from both arms and hands. He was taken to Morton Hospital where he was treated and released.

Sarah Mosher, the restaurant’s general manager, said she arrived just under a half an hour after the police were called. But by the time she showed up, Lauber, who is twenty and works at the restaurant full time, had already been taken to the hospital. He later called Mosher and assured her that, despite all of the blood present, he only needed a few stitches. He was given the rest of the week off to heal.
Continue reading

September 7, 2012

Fall from ladder leads to serious work injury

by Altman & Altman

Last Friday afternoon, August 31, 2012, a worker who had been doing repairs at Mill Pond Apartments in Littleton, Massachusetts was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital by helicopter. According to the Fire Chief of Littleton, A. Steele McCordy, the worker, in his thirties, was executing repairs on the building when he fell from a ladder.

Fire and medical personal arrived at the scene at 50 Mill Road at around 1:30pm. The worker was discovered lying on the ground with serious injuries to his midsection. But, at least, he was conscious and communicating with the EMTs as they worked to stabilize him. Yet, because of the nature of the man’s wounds, he was initially transported to St. Anne’s Church. This was where a Boston medflight helicopter met the Littleton ambulance. By the time the worker arrived at Mass General Hospital, he was listed as being in serious condition.

The name and status of the worker is currently unknown. But what may be most disheartening about the work related injury was that it came at the close of Labor’s Rights Week. Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis, issued a statement on OSHA’s website saying that “Making America’s workplaces safe and fair for everyone is the hallmark of Labor Rights Week.” Clearly, there is still much work to be done in the interest of providing safe environments for employees to work in, and the enforcement of those safety statutes.
Continue reading

September 7, 2012

The new nightmare on Elm Street? Wall falls on Construction worker

by Altman & Altman

On Tuesday, September 4, 2012, at around 8am, a construction worker was removing part of a building’s façade from 84 Elm Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. While in the midst of performing his duties, the deteriorating brick wall collapsed on him. He and the scissor lift he was standing on both fell backwards. The man’s crash was broken by a car parked in the street.

The owner of the vehicle, James Porier, affirmed that despite the damage to his car, he was happy that it was able to help save a life. Jeffrey Daley, Westfield’s Advancement Officer, echoed Porier’s sentiment, believing that the car probably did prevent further injury to the employee. The trajectory of the lift’s fall was angled in such a way that could have caused much more serious harm. Fortunately, the worker was able to stand and walk around afterwards. According to Police Lieutenant Lawrence Valliere, the man was taken to Noble Hospital with minor injuries.

Daley says the entire block presents hazards to the populace. The city of Westfield owns the building standing next to 84 Elm Street which had become dangerous when bricks began to fall from it during the previous week.
Continue reading

September 7, 2012

Employee injury may cost him his eyesight after nightclub scuffle

by Altman & Altman

Early this past Sunday, on September 2, 2012, two men were taken into custody by Springfield police, facing a bevy of charges following the serious injury of a doorman working at a strip club called Mardi Gras. Elvis Bastaldo, 33, was charged with assault and battery with serious bodily injury (done to an eye socket), assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and mayhem. His brother, Juan Bastaldo, 24, was charged with assault and battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

Springfield Police Sergeant John Delaney reported that prior to the arrest of the pair, the two men tried to escort a woman into the strip club on Taylor Street who was only eighteen years of age. The club was near to closing and the thirty-four year old Mardi Gras employee at the door refused to let the trio enter. Elvin and Juan Bastaldo also refused to pay the cover charge. After some discord, Juan, Elvin and the woman with them were ordered to leave by the three police officers who were working an extra-duty detail.

After Mardi Gras had closed, the doorman was preparing to escort one of the establishment’s female employees to her car. As soon as he opened the door to exit, the fist of Juan Bastaldo slammed into his face. Officer Thomas Liebel then struggled with Juan in the parking lot of the club while attempting to make arrest. The doorman intervened to assist the officer. During the fracas between the three, Elvin Bastaldo attacked from behind and punched the unsuspecting doorman in the eye several times with brass knuckles. More officers were then called to assist and Elvin Bastaldo was arrested after a brief chase.
Continue reading

September 5, 2012

Labor Violations at Copley Marriott Renovation Revealed by Investigators

by Altman & Altman

A state investigation has uncovered numerous tax and labor law violations were committed by at least 15 construction companies in the $18 million renovation of the Boston Marriott Copley Place. A state task force targeted toward investigating the underground economy has found that the hotel’s contractors illegally classified employees and failed to report wages, which ultimately deprived the state of almost $86,000 in taxes.

These violations were first revealed by The Boston Globe last month, when it reported that the source of one contractor’s workers was a drug rehabilitation ministry in Philadelphia called Victory Outreach. These employees were not only paid significantly less than minimum wage-at $4 an hour-but also worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. The hotel’s owners have claimed that they were unaware of the alleged violations until State Police came to the hotel in January to personally interview the aforementioned workers.

However, investigators also discovered that a multitude of other companies were involved in the repeat violations uncovered by the task force, which stemmed largely from the employment of “shadow workforce” over a period of many months. Six companies were accused of misclassifying workers, and seven for failure to report wages or register to pay for unemployment taxes. The misclassification of employees as independent contractors is an attempt to avoid paying unemployment taxes or sponsoring other benefits. The failure to report wages is another method of attempting to avoid paying unemployment taxes.
Continue reading

August 31, 2012

Construction Worker killed on the job

by Altman & Altman

In a tragic and unexpected turn, a construction worker was killed while involved with a nighttime job on a southbound highway. On Wednesday, August 29, 2012, at around 11:30 pm, Robert Parrot of Fitchburg, a 46 year old employee of Liddell Brothers Incorporated, fell sixty feet from a median gap of the elevated highway, Interstate 91, just north of Exit 7. He landed next to the train tracks below.

The site of the accident sits west of The Republican’s Main Street office and the Peter Pan bus terminal. East Columbus Avenue and Gridiron and Liberty Streets run adjacent.

Parrot’s identity was withheld until the family could be notified. But state police confirmed him as the victim on Thursday night. Rail service was temporarily interrupted and Parrot was pronounced dead at the scene. State police bear jurisdiction over state highway-related incidents. But Springfield city police provided backup units. Springfield Lieutenant David Martin affirmed that the city police were present merely to assist the state police with their investigation.

Detectives with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Service Section and members of the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the office of Mark G. Mastroianni, the Hampton District Attorney, are carrying out an ongoing investigation. An autopsy is being performed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office. Massachusetts Department of Transportation highway administrator Frank DePaola made a statement proclaiming that changes will certainly be made if the investigation reveals any safety lapses. DePaola also asserted that safety is the Department of Transportation’s number one priority.
Continue reading