Hard Hats & Justice Episode 2: "The Ladder That Lied"
A simple day's work turned into a life-altering nightmare when Lewis, a carpenter from Ecuador chasing the American dream, climbed a ladder that betrayed him. In an instant, the faulty equipment snapped beneath him—leaving both arms shattered, his spine broken, and his future uncertain.
In this episode of Hard Hats & Justice, attorney Chris Gorayeb takes you inside the courtroom battle that followed—where a powerful defense tried to erase Lewis's pain, and a Brooklyn jury refused to let that happen. Through raw testimony and hard legal truth, you'll hear how greed, negligence, and corner-cutting cost real people everything—and how New York's Labor Law became their only line of defense.
This isn't just one man's story. It's a wake-up call for every construction worker who's ever been told to "just get it done." From uninspected ladders to unsafe job sites, The Ladder That Lied exposes how lives are risked for profit—and what justice looks like when someone finally fights back.
SHORT DESCRIPTION
In Hard Hats & Justice: "The Ladder That Lied," attorney Chris Gorayeb uncovers the real-life story of a Brooklyn construction worker whose life was destroyed by a defective ladder—and how a relentless legal battle led to an $11 million jury verdict. This gripping episode reveals the hidden dangers behind New York's booming construction industry, the vital protections of New York State Labor Law §240, and the moral fight against companies that put profit before safety. Packed with firsthand accounts and legal insight, this episode is a must-listen for construction workers, attorneys, and advocates for workplace safety.
Keywords: construction injury podcast, New York Labor Law, workplace safety, ladder accident lawsuit, construction negligence, Gorayeb & Associates, worker protection NYC.
TRANSCRIPT 00:00 – Chris Gorayeb
It was a Tuesday morning and a carpenter who had come to New York from Ecuador to make a better life climbed an A-frame ladder which, unfortunately, had been set up on an uneven surface, and as he began to use a chipping hammer, the ladder side-loaded, one of the legs folded. The ladder collapsed and so did the construction worker, sustaining bilateral arm fractures, injury to his neck and to his back.
This is Chris Goreb, for another episode of Hard Hats and Justice, where I look forward to explaining to you the dangers of construction in New York, the protections that are available to workers in New York and how justice can be served. I'm Chris Goreb and if you or a loved one works in construction, I hope that you will enjoy this episode and take away some information that may help you in the future, stay safe and prevent an accident.
01:04
Back about five years ago, a client of mine named Lewis was using an A-frame ladder in Brooklyn and the ladder side loaded and, unfortunately, one of the legs folded and he fell. When he fell, he led with both of his outstretched arms to try to protect his body and when he fell, he landed with both of those outstretched arms on the ground, resulting in bilateral fractures.
He ended up being removed to a hospital by ambulance, where he underwent surgery that included installation of 11 screws in one wrist and 12 screws in another. Unfortunately, his treatment wasn't done because it also injured his neck and injured his back, and over time, those injuries developed to the point where he required surgery and he underwent a fusion on his neck and ultimately also on his back.
When he came to our office, we accepted his case and we began our investigation, and what we found is that the ladder he was using, which side-loaded and which collapsed, was old and bad shape and never should have been on the job site. What we also found was that the surface that the ladder had been erected on was sheets of plywood which had never been secured and which were unstable.
Both of those things—using an old ladder that is in bad shape and having the ladder set up on an uneven surface—are violations of the New York State Labor Law, a law which is intended to protect construction workers and prevent exactly this type of accident from happening.
We eventually tried the case. We proved our evidence. The defendants insurance companies trying to minimize his injuries and even prevent him from recovering any money brought in doctors to say that Lewis wasn't as hurt as he said he was. They brought in individuals to try to say that the accident was his fault and not the fault of the building owner. But ultimately a Brooklyn jury didn't buy that story and they found for us. They found for Lewis and they awarded him approximately $11 million.
That's my story of Lewis and his accident that occurred approximately five years ago.
03:48
Most ladder accidents are unavoidable and they would be avoided if owners and the contractors they hired took the time to make sure that the ladders being used were safe and stable and that the ladders, when they were erected, were safe and stable, secured. In some cases they need to be secured top and bottom and safe for an individual to be used.
But what happens on job sites is that everything's in a rush. Money is what matters, not whether a person gets injured or not. So the workers are rushed, defective ladders are put up, nothing is secured. Someone climbs the ladder and is part of his job, trying to make a living for him and his family, and, through no fault of his own or her own, an accident occurs and that person becomes badly injured, to the point that their lives have changed and they're unable to support themselves and support their family.
That's why the New York State Labor Law exists. It exists to protect workers who can't protect themselves. It exists to protect workers from being taken advantage of by employers and contractors and owners who care more about making a buck than they care about the lives and the well-being of the people that help them make those bucks.
05:26
Here at Grave Associates, we represent those people. We've been representing them for 39 years. We've represented more than 12,000 construction workers. There are an untold number of stories that I can tell you about people being taken advantage of.
In fact, just today, a 20-year-old young man came into the office. He was working on a telecommunications tower with three other workers removing cables that were 150 feet long and two and a half inches in diameter, and unfortunately, two of the workers at the top of the tower didn't tie a line properly and one cable weighing hundreds of pounds fell more than 100 feet, striking this young man and causing him to then fall approximately five feet from the point he was standing on the tower.
And guess what? No one called an ambulance. In fact, they just brought him home until the next day when they called an Uber to take him from the place of accident back to his home in Queens, and then the day after that, they sent a secretary to his home to pick him up and bring him to a CityMD, where the secretary did all the talking and didn't explain how the accident occurred, and then brought him home and left him there.
06:59
These are the kinds of things that happen to people in New York. These are the kinds of things that happen to construction workers, and these are the people who need protection. They need protection by attorneys such as I. They need protection of the laws, such as the labor law. Without that, so many individuals would be badly hurt, unable to receive compensation, have their lives grievously changed, with no ability to ever seek compensation or to again have financial security.
So to all construction workers out there, remember you need to take certain steps to protect yourselves. I know it's difficult. I know that if you complain, the boss might fire you, but using a dangerous ladder can result in an accident and injuries that will permanently change your life. Not taking precautions to see that the ladder is secured can also result in injuries that will change your life.
08:19
Getting paid in cash is something that many employers want to do, but then what happens is that you get paid in cash and then the employer can say that he doesn't know who you are because there's no record. Very often there's an accident and, just like the young man I spoke about, no ambulance is called and often the primary reason for not calling an ambulance is so that the New York City Department of Buildings doesn't learn about it, because as soon as they learn about an accident, they'll come and they'll potentially shut down the job, which ends up costing the owner and the contractor money.
So they'll do anything they can to avoid that information from getting out, which is, more often than not, why they won't call an ambulance.
So you, the worker, call an ambulance, report the accident, make a record. It's how you protect yourself after you've had an accident. It's how you protect yourself from the boss who wants to say or will say we don't know who this man is, there's no record he ever worked for us, there's no accident, there's no ambulance, there's no report. Protect yourself from that. It happens very, very frequently.
09:33
Most people know that in New York when you have an accident while you're working for a company, you have one case. The case that everyone has is a case for workers' compensation, and the reason why everyone has a workers' compensation case is that New York law requires that every company we work for is required to have insurance to protect the workers if there's an accident.
That's called workers' compensation, and if you have an accident while you're working, workers' compensation will pay your medical bills and some of the money you lose because you cannot work. That's something that we are all entitled to.
Whether we work in construction, in a restaurant, in an office, in a hotel, in a bodega, we are all entitled to workers' compensation if we get hurt.
Construction workers, however, often have a second case. That case arises because of the special laws embodied in the New York State Labor Law, which place a duty upon the owners and general contractors of buildings to make sure that the job site is safe. Those rights should never be forgotten.
10:42
If you have an accident, even if you think it's only workers' compensation, even if somebody has told you it's only workers' compensation, consult with an attorney. Consult with an expert construction accident attorney. Consult with an expert construction accident attorney.
Consult with us at Goraib and Associates. We will advise you. We will tell you your rights. We will tell you whether or not you have both a workers' compensation case and the second third-party case against the owner and contractor.
We will help you. If you or a loved one or a friend has had an accident, call us. Consultation is free. I am always available to give advice. I'm always available to listen to what happened and if I can help you, if the 70 people who work with us can help you, we will. That's what we do here. That's my promise.
Thank you for listening. We'll see you back here next week to hear more stories in hard hats and construction. If you need more information, visit our website at goraibcom. Thank you.
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About Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. Founded in 1981, Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. is one of New York's leading personal injury law firms, specializing in construction accident litigation. The firm has represented more than 12,000 injured workers and secured over $2 billion in verdicts and settlements. The firm provides bilingual legal services and free community education to immigrant and working-class communities across the five boroughs.
For more information visit: https://www.gorayeb.com/en/
