Nationwide Recoveries

Stutman Law Obtains Jury Verdict Against Negligent Contractor

The defendant was hired to build an addition to a wood frame building for a company making kitchen cabinets. The defendant’s employees chose to cut a hole in the sheet metal wall where the addition would attach using a large gas powered circular saw. A warning label on the saw stated that cutting metal produced sparks that created a fire hazard. An employee of the cabinetmaking company saw fire coming from the eaves on the outside of the building immediately above where the defendant’s employee was cutting the siding with the saw. The defendant insisted that its employees were not negligent in the use of saw, and that the saw did not start the fire. The case went to trial and by the time Stutman Law finished presenting its case, defense counsel admitted liability in his closing argument, and argued for comparative fault on the basis that the employees of the cabinet making company should not have allowed the saw to be used by his client. The jury disagreed and awarded Stutman Law’s client $520,000.