Plaintiff, a Verizon worker was performing an installation in the basement at a commercial building in New York City when he stepped on a sump pit cover that was left open by the building maintenance staff. Upon stepping on the unsecured cover, the worker fell into the sump pit up to his knee. As a result of the accident, plaintiff suffered multiple injuries to his back, neck, shoulder and knee which all required surgical intervention.
HKD filed a lawsuit against the building owner and managing agent for failing to secure the loose sump pit cover. Through discovery, it was learned that one of the building engineers removed the cover several days earlier and never fully secured it before the accident. HKD partners, Jordan Hecht and Jonathan Damashek settled the case in the amount of $4,500,000.
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