Firm Sets New Verdict Record in Louisiana for Construction Worker & His Family

In August 2022, young Texan worker Jose Valdivia was working on scaffolding at Phillips 66’s Lake Charles, LA refinery. While doing his job, a 20-pound metal bar struck him from above; it was later found that a coworker described as a “walking hazard” caused the bar to fall. Despite wearing a hard hat and appropriate PPE, the impact inflicted grievous spine and brain injuries on Jose. He was rendered barely able to speak and was confined to a wheelchair.

The impact his injuries had on his family is impossible to measure. With his $40,000 annual wage, Jose had been providing for his family and was putting one of his sisters through college. After Jose’s injury, his sister dropped out of college as the whole family rearranged their lives to take care of him.

Meanwhile, Jose’s employer—Brock Services, one of the world’s largest scaffolding companies—swept the incident under the rug. While Jose was dealing with permanent paralysis and getting treatment, Brock refused to report the incident. Arnold & Itkin spent nearly two years litigating the case to get Brock Services to take responsibility for the enormous financial and medical losses Jose and his family suffered.

They refused. So, we prepared for trial.

At the week-long trial, Brock Services shockingly claimed that Jose was faking his injuries and lied about the incident. Roland Christensen, Alec Paradowski, and Jonathan Mack of Arnold & Itkin, alongside Tony Clayton, Michael Fruge, and Brilliant Clayton of Clayton Fruge Ward, argued that Jose’s accident resulted from unsafe work planning, unsafe practices, and lack of supervision. We argued that Brock Services was responsible for the accident, so it was responsible for Jose’s physical pain and suffering, mental pain, anguish, distress, loss of enjoyment, impairment, loss of earnings, medical expenses, and all other losses related to the accident.

In the end, the jury saw through the defendant’s evasion and excuses. They awarded Jose and his family a verdict of $411 million, breaking the record for the largest single-plaintiff injury verdict in Louisiana history.

“I am grateful for the jury’s courage standing up to a very large company like Brock and telling Brock its conduct was unacceptable,” said Roland Christensen. “Without jury trials like this one, those who do the hardest and most dangerous work go unprotected. My hope is that this verdict will cause serious change in the scaffold industry to actually put safety first.”

All of us are immensely proud of this verdict and relieved for Jose and his family. We look forward to seeing his family reclaim their future while Jose gets the absolute best care available.