According to the Mediator who assisted the parties in reaching a pretrial settlement, Richard M. Jurewicz, Esquire of Galfand Berger LLP secured a confidential settlement for a widow and her two daughters in what is one of the largest pretrial settlements involving a wrongful death in Pennsylvania. Our client’s husband was employed as a field electrician for an electrical contractor located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The electrical contractor had been hired by the property owner to install electrical switchgear in a new industrial building that had been built in 2015. The electrical switchgear had been supplied by one of the world’s largest electrical switchgear manufacturers.
After locking out the equipment, our client’s husband was in the process of installing the additional switchgear when due to the electrical switchgear being improperly built its electrical power could not be isolated even though it was locked out and tagged out. When our client’s husband contacted the metal cabinet with his hand he was fatally electrocuted.
While the property owner attempted to blame the decedent and his employer for not testing the electrical equipment before installing it, the evidence obtained by Richard M. Jurewicz, Esquire conclusively proved that the faulty switchboard was improperly manufactured. Additionally, Mr. Jurewicz established that the property owner did not review the quotation and shipping documents. This information clearly indicated that the switchboard equipment was not what the property owner ordered. And, the switchgear was unsafe for the intended application.
Both the property owner and electrical switchgear manufacturer contributed equally to the settlement that will provide lifetime financial security to our client and her two teenage daughters.