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Another lawsuit filed in Atlanta construction accident at Botanical Garden

On Behalf of | Dec 15, 2010 | Georgia Work Accidents, Georgia Workers' Compensation |

Another lawsuit has been filed by a worker injured in a Georgia construction accident at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The Canopy Walk collapsed just before Christmas 2008, dropping workers 40 feet to the ground. One person was killed and 18 people were injured. Seven employees suffered very serious injuries, including brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, and were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Traumatic Brain Injuries or spinal cord injuries are among the most devastating injuries an employee can suffer in an Atlanta work accident. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 1.7 million people a year suffer a traumatic head injury, ranging from a mild concussion to a penetrating head wound. Immediate medical treatment is critical, regardless of whether a patient feels any serious symptoms. The symptoms of a serious head injury can take days or even weeks to present themselves. Left untreated, some brain injuries can be fatal.

Spinal cord injuries often lead to paralysis of upper or lower limbs, paraplegia, or near total paralysis of all extremities, quadriplegia. The severity of the condition depends in part on how far below the neck the spinal cord is damaged. Approximately 11,000 new cases are reported each year and about 250,000 Americans are living with a spinal cord injury. The leading causes are car accidents, violence and falls.

Either injury can be extremely expensive and consulting an attorney to protect your rights and help fight for the medical care you need and deserve is a critical step in protecting you and your family. The first-year costs of a spinal cord injury are estimated at between $152,000 and $500,000 dollars. Life time costs are at least $1.35 million.

The most recent lawsuit accuses Atlanta Botanical Garden and nine other companies of negligence and failure to protect workers building the elevated walkway. The lawsuit claims the walkway’s shoring towers were too far apart and had heights that exceeded base widths by more than four times. The suit claims workers were not aware of the inherent and dangerous conditions.

Those who have filed suit thus far were working for a cement subcontractor. The lawsuits are asking for actual damages for lost pay and medical and legal bills, as well as punitive damages.

The Atlanta work accident lawyers at the Law Offices of J. Franklin Burns, P.C., have the knowledge and experience to help clients obtain all of the benefits to which they are entitled under the Georgia workers’ compensation program. Our experienced staff will also carefully review the facts and circumstances of your accident to determine whether additional claims can be filed against someone other than your employer. For a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights, call 678-298-0323.