Family of Deceased Construction Worker Alleges Negligence in Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Comments Perlmutter & Schuelke, PLLC

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) April 28, 2016 – During the renovations to Texas A & M’s Kyle Field, a young man met his untimely death. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Angel Garcia fell to his death in 2013 when a piece of concrete, weighing 3,000 pounds, toppled his Caterpillar loader down four stories. The wrongful death lawsuit names Manhattan and Vaughn construction companies and Lindamood and Texas Cutting and Coring, alleging they were negligent by allowing such a massive overload on the Caterpillar. The suit seeks $100 million in damages, alleging he was not properly trained to handle the equipment.

According to the document filed in court, the OSHA charged two companies, Lindamood and Texas Cutting and Coring with several violations in 2014, five months after Garcia’s death, assessing them fines in excess of $130,000.

“Should negligence be proven in this case,” said respected Austin wrongful death attorney, Brooks Schuelke of Perlmutter & Schuelke, PLLC, “there is a good chance the family may win their lawsuit.”

There are five elements that need to be proven in court to show negligence was a key element in causing someone’s injuries or death. Those elements are: duty, breach of that duty to the plaintiff, cause in fact, proximate cause and damages. “It is interesting to note that even if a plaintiff can prove a defendant did act negligently, they may not be able to collect damages if there are no injuries, though the injuries in this case is clear,” Schuelke added.

Cause in fact is more commonly known by the “but-for” phrase, meaning that but for the defendant’s action(s), the plaintiff’s injuries and/or death would not have happened. Proximate cause refers to the actual scope of a defendant’s responsibility in an alleged negligence case.

In the eyes of the court, a defendant is only held responsible for harms that they could have foreseen as a result of their actions. “If a defendant caused damages outside the scope that the individual could have foreseen, the plaintiff then cannot prove those actions were the proximate cause of his or her injury,” explained Schuelke.

This is a complex area of the law and one that means an injured plaintiff or the family of a deceased plaintiff needs to contact an experienced attorney to handle the matter. The facts of the case dictate how the case is filed and how an attorney would present it to the court. “If you believe you do have all of the elements to file a negligence claim, speak to an attorney as soon as possible. It takes a skilled lawyer to get the case to court and present it in a compelling manner,” Schuelke said.

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