Jury says Consol must pay injured workers $7.8 million
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Consol Energy Inc. has been hit with a $7.8 million jury verdict in an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas civil case involving two subcontractors who were injured when a metal stairway collapsed.
One of the injured men, Clifford Decker, 58, of Bethel Park, and his wife, were awarded $5 million, according to a press release sent out by the plaintiffs' attorneys today. The other man, David Gillingham, 51, of Munhall, and his wife, were awarded $2.8 million.
Attorneys for Consol could not immediately be reached for comment, and the company has the right to appeal.
The case stemmed from a 2007 accident at a Consol-owned building on Brownsville Road in South Park.
Attorney G. Timothy Conboy, representing the Gillinghams, said in an interview that the stairway was bolted to a wall with four bolts, and they did not hold when the two men stepped onto it. Mr. Gillingham suffered a permanently frozen right shoulder that was not improved by rotator cuff surgery. Mr. Decker suffered a severely fractured left hip and leg.
The case hinged on whether Consol had adequately inspected and maintained the staircase over the four decades prior to its collapse, he said.
"The jury was insulted that Consol failed to accept responsibility for their failure to inspect and maintain this stairwell," Mr. Conboy said.
First Published November 24, 2010 2:14 pm
