Jeffrey Goodman and Samuel Dordick Obtained Back-To-Back Multimillion-Dollar Verdicts Two Weeks Apart

Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky attorneys Jeffrey Goodman and Samuel Dordick obtained back-to-back multimillion-dollar verdicts just two weeks apart.

In Blake v. Home Depot USA, Inc., et al., CCP Phila., September Term, 2020, No. 0089, Mr. Goodman and Mr. Dordick represented Michael Blake, a contractor who sustained catastrophic injuries when a wall under demolition collapsed, knocking over the scissor lift Mr. Blake was in, and throwing him to the ground twenty feet below. Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, on behalf of Mr. Blake, filed claims against the property owner and his company alleging that the owner inserted himself into the project and took control of the work, demanding that Mr. Blake utilize the scissor lift to perform the demolition. Product liability claims were also filed against the manufacturer of the scissor lift. After a fiercely contested trial on both liability and damages, on October 4, 2023, the jury returned a verdict in the amount of $4,500,000. Including statutory delay damages, the total verdict amounted to just over $5 Million. The largest offer before the verdict was $250k.

Just days after obtaining the multimillion-dollar verdict for Mr. Blake, Mr. Goodman and Mr. Dordick began another trial in the case of Tomascik v. Terex Corporation, et al., CCP Phila., February Term, 2021, No. 0788. In that case, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky represented John Tomascik, Jr., a quarry worker who suffered catastrophic injuries when his leg was crushed by the 20,000-pound rotor of a large stone crushing machine. The incident occurred while Mr. Tomascik and his co-workers were attempting to remove the rotor from a machine to make repairs. Despite its weight and the difficulty associated with attaching the rotor to a crane, the designer and manufacturer of the rotor, Terex, failed to design any designated lifting points into the rotor. Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, on behalf of Mr. Tomascik, filed strict product liability design defect claims against Terex, and the case proceeded to trial. On October 20, 2023, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff in the amount of $9,620,939.69. Including statutory delay damages, the total verdict amounted to $10,640,363. The largest offer before the verdict was $50k.