The Court of Appeals published its opinion in Jonkey v. Carignan Construction, a case involving an accident at a construction site. It began like this:
A construction site can be a dangerous place. There are some people who are keenly aware of this danger -- construction workers. Seasoned and mature construction workers who have risen to the top of this industry and who are supervisors, managers, and owners are not only keenly aware of the dangers; they also teach and are responsible for construction safety. They may also suffer financially for injuries occurring at a construction site. This, of course, provides an extra incentive to be safety-conscious. Here, it is ironic that Eric Jonkey (appellant), a seasoned and mature construction worker who had risen in the industry to a position of management and ownership, could be injured in the way we shall describe. Of all people at a construction site, appellant was and is chargeable with caring for his own safety. That he was walking near scaffolding which was being disassembled at a construction site looking down absorbed in a cell-phone conversation is tantamount to strolling on a battlefield wearing "horse blinders" and ear-plugs. While we regret that he was injured, he should be grateful that he wasn't killed.
I'm surprised they didn't make fun of the guy's name. ("What do you get when you cross a litigious jackass with an injured donkey? Plaintiff Jonkey.") You can probably guess how they decided, but if you want to read it to yourself, open this link.
What was not mentioned in this review was the fact that I was injured 10 feet from the scaffold and the owner of the block company stated on the stand that"he would fire any employee that dropped a plank more than 4 feet from the scaffold" The defendant stated that he was handing down the planks to another worker at the bottom of the scaffold. That worker must be very tall since the plank was 16 feet long and was dropped from 28 feet. The contractor representative lied when he said that he was in the job shack and did not see the accident but actually he was standing next to me and the site inspector refused to testify because he was in the job shack and did not see the accident. The general contractor never contacted CAL OSHA. Probably because OSHA would have fined them for not having proper warning present. If planks are lowered properly they couldn't land straight up and down 10 feet from the scaffold. Walking through a mine field would you be looking up, or down on the ground since the site was a mess of concrete and rebar trash?
Posted by: Eric Jonkey | March 13, 2014 at 22:45