PHILADELPHIA - The family of a 33-year-old man who fell to his death while working in a Pennsylvania mine has obtained a $12 million settlement with a cement company.
The plaintiffs firm Kline & Specter last week announced the agreement, which ends litigation that began in April 2023 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. The sides reached the settlement in December, weeks ahead of a scheduled trial date.
Defendants in the case were Hercules Cement Company, Buzzi Unicem SpA and RC Lonestar.
“This result exemplifies that a workplace that fosters an unsafe culture and fails to comply with industry required safety standards cannot shift the blame for their negligence to a man who was injured following their unsafe practices," said Regan Safier, counsel for the plaintiffs.
Michael Pittman fell 23 feet to his death on July 26, 2021, while removing and replacing a gearbox on a cement cooler. He was 33 years old and married with two children.
Crew members had opened a large hole on a walkway in order to lower the 2,500-pound gearbox. Pittman was working for G&R Mineral Services and not wearing a safety harness.
He had been instructed to cover the opening on the walkway with two wooden planks so that a crew could reach the cooler, where a buildup of grease had occurred. One plank was too thin to support his weight, and he fell through the hole to his death.
His body was found near the broken board. The suit alleged it was thinner, shorter and narrower than what was required to support a person's weight.
The fall fractured his skull. Attempts to save Pittman were unsuccessful, and he died at a hospital. The cement company's plant failed to meet the Department of Labor's minimum health and safety standards, the suit said, though it blamed Pittman for not wearing a safety harness.
Kline & Specter argued the company had lax safety enforcement and produced an expert from Rutgers University to testify to that.