Recently a settlement was reached in an Chicago construction injury case that resulted in a man’s death. The $2.6 million settlement was awarded to the family of a man who’d been struck and killed by a steel pylon that had fallen from a crane. At the time the man was working at an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) project located on the Kingery/Borman Expressway.
While the man was working for the IDOT the incident actually occurred in Indiana, just over the Illinois-Indian border. Because the injury took place in Indiana the defendant attorneys asked the Circuit Court of Cook County to apply Indiana law instead of Illinois law, specifically where it relates to a $300,000 cap on recoveries. However, the Cook County judge denied the defendants’ motion and Illinois law was applied.
The decedent’s family claimed that the subcontractor, Edward E. Gillen Co., was negligent for its failure to warn and remove workers from the area where the occurrence took place. They further claimed that the crane operator who was employed by Gillen was negligent in failing to warn and handle the crane’s load he was operating.
The case was resolved in a mediation setting by a former Cook County associate judge.
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Illinois construction accident cases for over 30 years, serving all areas in and around Cook County including La Grange, Schaumburg, Skokie, and Melrose Park.