Energized power line: Failure to de-energize or cover wire: Inadvertent contact: Burns: Closed head, spinal injury: Settlement

Law Reporter, Oct 2002

Energized power line: Failure to de-energize or cover wire: Inadvertent contact: Burns: Closed head, spinal injury: Settlement.

Jaramillo v. Fretz Constr. Co., Tex., Harris County 80th Jud. Dist. Ct., No. 1999-48308, Jan. 10, 2002.

Jaramillo, 17, was placing a 20-foot angle iron on a building at a construction site when he contacted an energized power line. As a result, Jaramillo suffered electrical burn injuries to his abdomen and leg. He also fell during the incident, causing him to sustain closed head and spinal cord injuries. His medical expenses totaled more than $190,000, including the cost of a thoracic spinal fusion. A laborer earning about $25,000 annually, Jaramillo is now unable to work.

Jaramillo's parents, individually and on their son's behalf, sued the general contractor at the construction site, alleging it failed to either (1) arrange to have the line deenergized or (2) cover the wire. Plaintiffs claimed that defendant had a duty to take one of these precautions under the state health and safety code, which establishes this duty in situations where it is possible for machinery, tools, or materials to come within six feet of a wire.

Defendant asserted that because Jaramillo could have raised the angle on the other side of the building and because the wire was located 12 feet from where the frame was to be faced, the code provision was inapplicable.

The parties settled for a confidential amount.

Plaintiffs' experts were Way Johnston, occupational safety engineering, The Woodlands, Tex.; Jeff Compton, economics, and William Quintanilla, vocational rehabilitation, both of Houston, Tex.; and H. David Feltoon, clinical psychology, Austin, Tex.

Defendant's expert witnesses were Joe Mullis, economics, and Bob Fretz, construction, both of Houston, Tex.; and James Knorpp, workplace safety, Keller, Tex.

Plaintiffs' Counsel

* Brantley W. White, Corpus Christi, Tex. Lance Winchester, Houston, Tex.