PHILADELPHIA – A Teamster working on the docks of the Port of Philadelphia claims his employers were negligent in maintaining the working conditions at the site, and that the injuries he sustained in an on-the-job accident there were the result.
Ryan Shackleton of Feasterville filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on May 29 versus Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and Creative Leasing Company, both also of Philadelphia.
“On May 10, 2017, plaintiff was employed as a Teamster dock worker by Penn Warehousing and Distribution at Pier 78. On said date, while walking in the warehouse at Pier 78, plaintiff fell as a result of uneven cracked pavement. The pavement in disrepair and the surrounding areas which were in a similar state of disrepair, created a dangerous, uneven walking surface and associated hazards which caused plaintiff to fall. As a result of this fall, plaintiff Ryan Shackleton sustained severe and permanent injuries,” according to the complaint.
Shackleton sustained a displaced oblique fracture of the right humerus requiring insertion of hardware, persistent right radial nerve neuritis, status post ORIF of the right humerus, right elbow contracture, sleep disorder, aggravation and exacerbation of pre-existent cervicalgia, clinical cervical radiculopathy, right carpal tunnel syndrome clinically, myofascial pain syndrome, right ulnar entrapment which will require extensive physical therapy, injections and surgery, plus internal injuries, according to the lawsuit.
Shackleton claims the defendants were negligent by failing to properly and adequately maintain the premises, violating contractual duties to provide safe working conditions and violating all applicable OSHA and other governmental regulations pertaining to walking surfaces, in addition to a number of other charges.
In an answer and new matter submitted on Aug. 14, Creative Leasing Company’s counsel George R. Zacharkow unanimously denied the plaintiff’s claims, and explained they were barred by the plaintiff’s own negligence, assumption of risk, statutes of limitations and doctrine of laches, and requested the complaint be dismissed with prejudice.
For counts of negligence against both defendants, the plaintiff is seeking damages, jointly and severally, in excess of $50,000 plus costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and all other relief allowed by law.
The plaintiff is represented by Samuel I. Reich of Laffey Bucci & Kent, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Robert W. Stanko and Andrew C. Goldstein of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggan, plus George R. Zacharkow of Deasey Mahoney & Valentini, all also in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180503039
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com