Worker who was struck in eye at work settles for $650K

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A worker who was struck in the eye while at work reached a $650,000 settlement.

The plaintiff was working at a major manufacturing plant in the lower part of South Carolina when he was struck in the eye by a co-worker with a paint roller. According to the plaintiff’s counsel, Christopher Hart from Hart Law Firm, the co-worker who hit the plaintiff immediately fled the work site and never returned.
The Plaintiff was rushed to the emergency room with his eye bleeding. Due to this injury, the plaintiff incurred a total of $106,000 in medical bills.
“We filed a workers’ compensation claim with his employer who, in return, denied the claim stating that our client was guilty of fighting on the job,” Hart said. “The employer cussed at our client and fired him. The employer refused to take measures to ensure our clients’ medical bills and lost wages were paid. The employer knew on the date of the injury that our client was not fighting because it was recorded on cameras located at the plant.”

After the plaintiff’s employer denied the worker’s compensation claim, plaintiff counsel filed a tort action against the employer.

The plaintiffs’ counsel elected to file a lawsuit against the employer for negligently hiring the co-worker with violent tendencies and failure to properly supervise the workplace.  According to Hart, a workers compensation settlement would have been a significantly lower settlement amount because plaintiff was an unskilled laborer and low wage employee. However, because the defendant denied the workers compensation claim, the plaintiff was able to seek tort action against his employer. 

On March 23, 2022, the plaintiff was awarded a $675,000 settlement. 

Many details of this case have been withheld due to a confidentiality agreement. 
Verdict or Settlement? Settlement
Type of case: Workers compensation
Amount: $675,000
Injuries: Hit in eye with metal paint roller
Case Name: Confidential
Plaintiff Attorneys: Christopher Hart and Justin Bamberg
Defense Counsel: Withheld
Has the judgment has been successfully collected? Yes