Worker Seeks Money Damages For Construction Injury

By Andrew Gorosko

The Town of Newtown and the Board of Education are among four co-defendants named in a lawsuit lodged on behalf of a truck driver, who is seeking compensatory damages for injuries he received in a slip-and-fall accident during the Newtown High School expansion/renovation project.

In legal papers received by Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia on January 18, plaintiff Michael F. Glynn of Hamden names as defendants in the lawsuit The Morganti Group, Inc, of Danbury; Earthmovers, Inc, of Danbury; the town, and the school board.

Through the court action, Mr Glynn is seeking unspecified money damages, exceeding $15,000, for injuries received in the incident, which occurred on April 15, 2011, at the school grounds at 12 Berkshire Road.

The co-defendants have a February 28 court return date to reply to the lawsuit at Danbury Superior Court.

In such cases, the defendants typically refer such lawsuits to their respective attorneys and insurance firms for review.

According to the legal papers, Mr Glynn, was employed as a tractor-trailer truck driver for Aaron’s Supreme Storage, a storage container and trailer firm.

The Morganti Group, Inc, was the construction management firm for the high school expansion/renovation project, and Earthmovers, Inc, was performing site work as part of the school project.

According to the legal papers, on April 15, 2011, Aaron’s was called to the school grounds to pick up a storage trailer that had been parked at the construction site and Mr Glynn was dispatched to do that work.

Mr Glynn positioned a tractor near the trailer that was to be hauled away and then proceeded to attempt to raise the trailer’s landing legs, according to the lawsuit.

“The field where the trailer was parked was strewn with debris, building materials, etc, constituting a defective condition and/or nuisance. Upon attempting to raise the trailer landing legs to hitch the trailer to the tractor, [Mr Glynn] was caused to slip on a piece of slick material/plank which was set under the trailer landing legs and which was buried in the mud,” according to the legal papers.

Thus, Mr Glynn received a “twisting injury” to his right knee, which previously had been injured, the papers state.

The lawsuit alleges, among many other charges, that the injuries suffered by Mr Glynn are the result of the defendants failing to meet their contractual responsibilities to ensure that the construction site was reasonably safe for workers there.

Mr Glynn’s injury has required and likely will continue to require medical treatment, therapy, medicines, tests, and examinations, as well as the need for a knee replacement, according to the legal papers.