$15.75 Million Settlement for Injured Louisiana Worker

$15.75 Million

Settlement for Injured Louisiana Worker

The Case: In July 2017, Meylin Castro was working as a temporary construction laborer. Halfway through her first day on an asbestos abatement project at a church in Denham Springs, Louisiana, she fell 20 feet through a dangerous open end at the edge of a scaffold. The unmarked and unguarded area was covered over by a sheet of polyethylene plastic to create a “containment area” for the asbestos work. Castro’s fall resulted in a traumatic brain injury and rendered her a paraplegic. Her past and future medical expenses were in the millions of dollars.

The Outcome: In July 2020, two years into the case, Yarborough Applegate was brought in as lead trial counsel. Our co-counsel from The Law Office of John W. Redmann in New Orleans enlisted our help due to our track record of significant jury verdicts and settlements for Hispanic immigrants and victims of spinal cord injuries.

The case had been filed against three entities and their insurers: Sunbelt Rentals Scaffold Services, the company that built the scaffold; 1 Priority Environmental Services, the asbestos contractor and Castro’s employer; and First United Methodist Church of Denham Springs, Louisiana, the church where the incident occurred. Ultimately, the global settlement included $8 million from Sunbelt, $6 million from 1 Priority, and $1.75 million from First United Methodist Church.