A jury has awarded a Sunoco laborer $9 million for injuries suffered when he fell from a ladder at the company’s South Philadelphia refinery.
Patrick Brown, 35, fell in October 2002 while climbing down a ladder between catwalks, banging his head and injuring his back and shoulder in the fall, court documents said.
Brown’s attorney, John T. Dooley, said they had originally demanded $3 million in compensation for the accident, but negotiated down to $1 million.
“The only offer” Sunoco “ever made was $25,000,” Dooley said. “They ended up with a $9 million verdict against them.”
Brown’s injuries included herniated disks, according to documents filed Dooley. The main factual dispute in the case was whether a safety cage was in place on the ladder when the accident occurred.
The jury in the Court of Common Pleas reached its unanimous verdict Tuesday, according to Michele Rizio, a paralegal in Dooley’s office.
The company plans to appeal, Sunoco spokesman Jeffrey Peters said.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
World’s Largest Retirement Community Taps Muni Market to Help Build More Homes 
AWS Outage a ‘Moderate Incident,’ Another Near Miss for Insurance Industry 
New York Hospital Insurer Files for Bankruptcy, Citing Child Sex Abuse Claims 
Update: Catastrophe Bond Investors Told to Brace for Jamaica Payout 
