Individuals Legs were Trapped and Crushed by Front Loader in 2016
WEST PALM BEACH, FL. – The case of Mr. Verduzco, a 22-year-old construction laborer, whose legs were violently pinned between a front loader machine and bucket on a Davie construction site back in April 2016, was horrifying to all who witnessed the hour-plus rescue broadcast on live television.
On February 9, in a Broward County courtroom, Mr. Verduzco got justice. His attorneys, Michael Pike and Robert “Burr” Johnson of Pike & Lustig, a personal injury and business litigation firm with offices in West Palm Beach, Miami, Palm Beach Gardens, and Wellington, filed a lawsuit against eight separate individuals and entities on behalf of Mr. Verduzco.
Of those eight lawsuits, settlements in excess of $1 million were entered into with six of the defendants.
Michael Pike and Robert Johnson proceeded to trial with the remaining two defendants: Quad-M Construction & Development, LLC, and David Tapia.
A Broward County jury returned a $23.8 million verdict against those two defendants yesterday, with liability divided 70% to Quad-M and 30% to Mr. Tapia.
Verduzco was working a construction job where he was put on a front-loading heavy piece of machinery (aka a Bobcat).
Mr. Verduzco was never asked if he had any experience using the machine and was not provided any training. While operating the machine, Mr. Verduzco was ejected and trapped between the machine and the attached bucket. He was trapped for 1.5 hours.
Mr. Verduzco went in and out of consciousness as both of his legs snapped and his bones protruded through his skin. There was severe blood loss and the responding EMTs planned to amputate both of Mr. Verduzco’s legs onsite.
Mr. Verduzco was finally freed and airlifted to a hospital where he underwent an 8-hour emergency surgery followed by several more surgeries over next several months. Skin grafts were also performed numerous times.
Following Mr. Verduzco’s surgeries, he was not able to walk without assistance for a full year. He later underwent knee surgeries and spinal surgeries as a result of the incident. He remains in extreme pain to this day.
“We are pleased with the jury’s findings and their ability to fully appraise what was taken from Mr. Verduzco,” said Michael Pike, Managing Partner, Pike & Lustig.
“I am thrilled that this six year process has now resulted in the eight-figure result we wanted for our client from day one,” said Robert “Burr” Johnson, Attorney, Pike & Lustig.
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