Personal Injury - Verdict in favor of Plaintiff in the amount of US$1,000,000

Case Name:	Carlos Elviro vs. Jackson Tower Las Olas Condominium Association, Inc., ATC International, Inc. a Fl
Case Number:	04-002070 (12)
Verdict Date:	2014-02-00
Outcome Type:	Settlement
Court:	Circuit Court of the 17 Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida

Plaintiff's Complaint:
Attorney Gabriel F. Zambrano, prepared for trial, a complex elevator accident case premised on theories involving electromagnetic immunity (EMI) and the undetected alteration of redundant safety features to an elevator system by unlicensed and untrained personnel that were granted access to a luxury high rise condominium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On June 12, 2002, C.E. was 33, and working on top of an elevator cab in June 2002. He engaged a safety stop switch, part of the redundant safety features, of the elevator system to prevent the cab from moving while he worked. He was in the process of crossing onto an adjacent elevator top, which was being held by a co-worker, when the cab suddenly and unexpectedly answered a call to an unknown floor height. This resulted in an immediate crush injury to his then dominant right hand with finger amputation and a dozen surgeries to repair damage. Plaintiff overcame chronic pain, RSD/CRPS and the use of narcotic pain medications and retrained his left hand for use, along with his now helper hand and is admirably employed full time in another capacity. Workers compensation paid nearly $1M in medical bills and wages following the accident. The resulting investigation, conducted during his hospitalization and while Zambrano' client was incapacitated, placed 100% of blame on his conduct, while claiming he had not engaged the safety stop switch. Discovery revealed that the owner, Jackson Towers Condominium Association, had a history of allowing unlicensed and unsupervised companies access to the rooftop machine room and elevator components. This was allegedly in violation of Florida's Elevator Safety Code which is intended to safeguard the public and qualified elevator personnel. The owner had hired a self-proclaimed security expert, ATC, to provide floor by floor access to the luxury high rise apartments. ATC had installed non-UL listed, non-insulated parts, in conjunction with their access control system and software that allegedly contributed to or caused the unexpected movement on the date of the accident. The lawsuit alleged negligence per se, violation of Florida law and ASME standards applicable to elevators and elevator machine rooms, against both the owner and the now defunct security company. Defendants relied upon the findings of the post-accident workers compensation investigation to claim overwhelming evidence of comparative fault explained the event. Suit was resolved just prior to a March 2014 Trial date for $1,000,000.00, despite the loss, destruction and misplacement of critical evidence by at least one of the Defendants in the action.

Injury, Damage, or Loss:


Defendant's Wrongdoing:


Plaintiff's Attorneys:
Gabriel F. Zambrano, Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman

Defendant's Attorneys:


Judge/Arbitrator/Mediator:

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Published on Apr-29-16