SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After falling 30 feet from an improperly constructed scaffold, an Everett man was awarded more than $2.59 million yesterday after a lengthy battle spanning 13 years which involved a legal controversy over the victim’s immigration status, verdicts from two different juries, a ruling by the Washington State Court of Appeals and ultimately a far-reaching opinion handed down by the Washington State Supreme Court that has a lasting impact to personal-injury cases across the state, says Kornfeld Trudell Bowen & Lingenbrink.
In October 2002, Alex Salas was working on a construction project in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle when he slipped and fell 30 feet, crushing his pelvis, breaking his leg and wrist, and causing a traumatic brain injury, among other injuries.
Investigations revealed that the Seattle-based scaffolding contractor, Hi Tech Erectors, used ladders that fell short of safety standards, which led to Salas’ fall. Since the 2002 injury, Salas has undergone 13 surgeries and anticipates having at least five more.
“When we went to trial in 2006, I felt that we presented a very strong case to the jury, and their verdict that Hi Tech was negligent proved that out,” said Robert Kornfeld, a partner of Kornfeld Trudell Bowen & Lingenbrink and the Seattle-area attorney representing Salas. “We were very surprised, though, that even with Hi Tech’s negligence, the jury refused to award Alex damages despite his horrendous injuries.”
According to Kornfeld, he believed that the jury was improperly swayed by the defense team’s decision to highlight Salas as an “illegal alien” during the trial, creating the impression that as such, he was not entitled to the same protections as citizens.
Salas was an undocumented worker, although he has lived in the area for 25 years, working as a carpenter, paying taxes and raising his three children with his wife.
“The reality is that my fall had a devastating impact on me, my life, not to mention my family’s,” Alex Salas said. “When I was in Harborview right after the fall, my wife was at Swedish Hospital, giving birth to our third child. Not only did I miss the birth, I wasn’t able to hold our child because of the casts. Nothing can give me that moment back.”
Kornfeld later appealed the jury decision to the Washington State Supreme Court, claiming that the introduction of Salas’ immigration status unfairly influenced the jury’s decision, after first appealing to the Washington State Court of Appeals.
In 2010, the State Supreme Court agreed with Kornfeld, issuing a ruling that a plaintiff’s immigration status was so potentially prejudicial that it could not be entered into personal injury litigation, and that Salas was entitled to a new trial. The Washington State Court of Appeals then dealt with a number of procedural issues, and in 2012 remanded Salas’ case back to Superior Court for a new trial.
Commenting on the Supreme Court decision, Kornfeld added: “Alex’s skin color, or his country of origin had absolutely nothing to do with his injuries; the negligence of his employer did. The state supreme court made that clear in Alex’s case, and for every other injured person moving forward.”
On June 29, 2015, Salas’ new trial began in King County Superior Court, and after six days of testimony and two days of deliberation, 12 jurors again held Hi Tech negligent, and this time awarded Salas $2.59 million in damages.
“It has been a long and difficult journey for Alex and his family,” said Kornfeld said. “In the 13-plus years from his fall, Alex has been struggling with his injuries, and struggling to find work that allows him to support his family. The jury verdict is fair and just, and will help him give his family the support they deserve.”
“I am grateful to Robert Kornfeld for sticking with me, and sticking with his case for as long as it has taken,” Salas said.
Supreme Court Opinion: Salas v. Hi Tech Erectors, 168 Wn.2d 664,
230 P.3d 583 (2010)
Current Jury Verdict: 04-2-36411-6 SEA