Truck driver sues real estate developer for injury on N.J. work site

A truck driver has filed a personal injury suit at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern

District of Pennsylvania against a Montgomery County, Pa., based real estate developer after he sustained severe shoulder injuries at a project site in New Jersey.

Joseph McKenna, of Cherry Hill, N.J., seeks damages in excess of $75,000 on charges of negligence against defendants Toll Brothers, Inc., headquartered in Horsham, Pa., and employee Robert Brooks. McKenna's wife, Michelle, has also filed suit for loss of consortium with her husband.

According to the complaint, on Sept. 20, 2013, McKenna delivered a set of French doors to a construction site managed by Toll Brothers in Shrewsbury, N.J. McKenna informed the site foreman that the doors were inside the trailer and that he could not carry them to their final destination. Rather, it was the responsibility of the site workers to unload the trailer.

The suit says that the unidentified foreman told McKenna that the project was behind schedule and no one was available. McKenna was told to use Brooks, a day laborer, to help him carry the doors. McKenna followed the foreman's instruction, the suit says, and began to carry the heavy load with Brooks over an uneven terrain made up of mud, dirt and rocks.

At one point in the path, the pair had to cross a trench. As Brooks began to exit the trench and McKenna began to step down, Brooks lost his grip on the doors. According to the complaint, McKenna attempted to catch the door, and immediately felt a tearing pain in his entire right arm as the door fell, hit the ground and broke.

The plaintiff underwent surgery for his arm in December 2013 and received workers' compensation benefits of $800 per week, down from his usual weekly salary of $1,200. The complaint says that as a result of the defendants' negligence, McKenna has experienced ongoing pain and agony in his arm, along with mental anguish and emotional suffering. The disabling injury will permanently affect McKenna's ability to earn a full income as he incurs mounting medical expenses for his rehabilitation and recovery.

According to the complaint, Toll Brothers displayed supervisory negligence by failing to monitor and train Brooks. The company also is responsible for allowing dangerous conditions to exist on its job site and not giving McKenna proper warnings of the rocky, unstable terrain.

The plaintiffs are represented by Matthew Weisberg.

The federal case ID is 2:14-cv-06543-MMB.