PHILADELPHIA – The case of a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) employee who claimed being required to lift an unsafe generator caused him to suffer both herniated discs and spinal injuries last year, has been slated for arbitration proceedings next winter.
On Sept. 7, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge John M. Younge ruled that the contested amount in Raymond Acosta’s case against SEPTA was below the mandatory limits and therefore, the matter would be referred to the Court’s arbitration center.
A hearing has been set for Jan. 3.
Acosta of Philadelphia first filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on May 30 versus SEPTA, also of Philadelphia.
“On Sept. 25, 2017, Mr. Acosta was working at Philmont Siding in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, loading a Honda generator approximately three-and-a-half feet from the ground into the bed of a pickup truck,” according to the lawsuit.
The job was “dangerous,” the suit said, because of the generator’s 60-pound weight, its gasoline contents, it being covered in grease and oil and its swing-up handle being broken – among other factors, and resulted in Acosta feeling sharp pain in his right lower back upon attempting to pick up the generator.
“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of defendant SEPTA, plaintiff suffered a 3 mm Grade I retrolisthesis of the L-4 [vertebra] on L-5 with disc space narrowing, mild bilateral facet joint hypertrophy at the L-4/L-5 and L-5/S-1 [vertebral junctions], mild disc bulge at the L-4/L-5 [vertebral junctions] with superimposed, small, broad-based central disc herniation, resulting in central spinal canal and mild right neuroforaminal stenosis, all requiring medical treatment, including physical therapy and pain management,” the suit stated.
Acosta claimed SEPTA violated federal law by not providing him with a safe place to work, failed to comply with its own internal safety rules and regulations and failed to provide appropriate, functional and safe protective gear, in addition to a number of other charges.
Prior to the arbitration order and for one count of FELA violation and related negligence, the plaintiff was originally seeking damages in excess of $50,000 plus interest, costs and any other amount the Court deems fit to award, in addition to a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by James J. McEldrew III and Ian M. Bryson of McEldrew Young, in Philadelphia.
The defendant is represented by Dolores Rocco Kulp, also in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180503232
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com