Darrell Cochran, Kevin Hastings, and Andrew Ulmer reached a $7.5 million settlement on behalf of an independent contractor working on a residential roof replacement.
The plaintiff was injured after falling from the roof of a two-story house. Plaintiff alleged that the roofing company that asked him to do the project failed to ensure the job site was safe. The underlay used on the roof was slicker than what is commonly used in residential applications, and the roofing contractor failed to provide the required safety equipment to its workers. The plaintiff alleged that the roofing company was acting as a general contractor given its control over the job site and that it knew or should have known that the roof presented a dangerous condition. The roofing company failed to exercise ordinary care in helping to make sure the job site was safe, which caused the plaintiff to fall.
“This general contractor was careless in its supervision of the job site,” said Darrell. “Not only did they fail to provide safety gear to the roofers, they also chose a slippery underlaying mat and didn’t tell the installers.”