When, Why, and How to Sue JE Dunn Construction for a Worksite Accident

• September 6, 2024
• Attorney Matt Stoddard
• Construction Accidents

If you’re suffering an injury or loss as the result of a construction accident, you’ve probably already received a lot of conflicting advice about your rights. You might have been told that the accident was something no one could have anticipated, or that catastrophic injuries are just an accepted risk of the construction industry.

The truth is that most, if not all, construction accidents are preventable, and general contractors are responsible for making sure sites operate as safely as possible. Collecting fair compensation isn’t easy, especially for construction company employees, but it can be done with a little expert help.

Fall Prevention Is One of the Most Essential Parts of Construction Site Safety

Falls are by far the most common type of serious accident for construction workers, accounting for more than one in three on-the-job deaths. Another one in five deaths result from workers being struck by objects, typically objects falling from above.

Better securing both materials and personnel suspended at a height is the single best thing construction companies can do to improve worksite safety.

JE Dunn has been the general contractor at the site of a number of fall accidents over the years:

• In 2004, during construction of the North Kansas City Hospital Health Services Pavilion in Missouri, a JE Dunn employee fell to his death from the structure’s roof. He was reportedly taking measurements to determine where to move the suspended scaffolding the crew was using to access the outer walls.
• In 2009, a boom lift tipped over during work on the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, also in Kansas City, Missouri. There were two workers in the lift basket at the time. One was killed in the fall, the other seriously injured.
• In 2016, a man accidentally drove a scissor lift off the side of the 14th floor of the BOK Park Plaza tower in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Another worker who witnessed the accident said that the victim appeared to have confused the lift’s two control modes, one which allows forward and backward movement, the other up and down movement. A senior vice president of JE Dunn responded to the man’s death by stating that the site had safety nets in place to prevent such falls. He did not comment on what had gone wrong to allow the accident.
• In 2019, just streets away from where the boom lift accident occurred 10 years earlier, another worker suffered a fatal fall while working on the Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel. Reports conflict on whether he fell from the 23rd or 18th floor. A JE Dunn representative stated that he was assigned to the 8th floor, and that the company had no idea why he was on a higher level.

These horrific accidents are all perfect examples of why elevated work should always be carefully planned and executed with every possible safety precaution.

Machine Collapses Are a Concerning and Recurring Problem on JE Dunn Sites

In addition to the fatal incidents above with the falling scissor lift and boom lift, JE Dunn construction sites have also had a couple of full-sized crane collapses.

Here in Georgia, in 2015, a crane fell and struck a parking structure in Buckhead. There were several workers inside the structure at the time. Thankfully, none of them were directly in the path of the crane, but the damage from the accident did trap them until they could be rescued with firetruck ladders.

Then, in 2018, another crane being used by JE Dunn tipped over on top of the C. Wayne McIlwraith Translation Medicine Institute in Fort Collins, Colorado. The building was right next to Colorado State University’s veterinary teaching hospital. Again, amazingly, no one was hurt.

Obviously, an accident where everyone walks away is better than one that ends or alters lives, but construction workers shouldn’t have to rely on luck to make it home at the end of the day.

When accidents like this happen, they should serve as a warning that something is wrong and must be addressed, to prevent worse incidents in the future.

Construction Carelessness Endangers Bystanders as Well as Workers

The workers present at those crane collapses weren’t the only people who were lucky to escape with their lives. The sheer size of some construction cranes means that, when they fall, they’re very likely to hit public areas outside the bounds of a hard hat zone.

Crane accidents aren’t the only way JE Dunn has reportedly endangered, and even severely injured, members of the public.

• In 2006, a blasting accident at a JE Dunn worksite sent a rock flying through the window of JJ’s Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, where it struck a server’s head. She suffered a depressed skull fracture and permanent neurological injuries.
• In both 2010 and 2012, OSHA cited JE Dunn for failing to check for asbestos before beginning a demolition project. The first incident was also in Kansas City, and the second was right here in Atlanta, at New Northside Atlanta High School. Identifying and safely removing any asbestos is a crucial step in the demolition of older structures. Skipping it creates asbestos dust, which can then lead to cancer and other lung diseases in anyone who inhales the dust, workers and neighbors alike.
• In 2017, a JE Dunn employee driving a JE Dunn vehicle struck another vehicle on the US-290 highway in Waller County, Texas. The other driver died in the collision. The JE Dunn employee was allegedly speeding at 82 miles per hour at the time. Employers are responsible for making sure their employees don’t pose a danger to the public in the course of their duties, and that includes practicing good road safety.

If you’ve also been injured as a bystander to a JE Dunn accident, there’s a good chance you have a case against the company. For employees, however, seeking compensation can be more complicated.

Suing JE Dunn Isn’t Always the Best Path to Compensation

Under U.S worker’s comp law, employers are required to carry insurance to cover workplace accidents. Workers pay a steep price for this coverage, however: if an accident is covered by worker’s comp insurance, the victim and family lose their legal right sue the employer for personal injury or wrongful death.

This can be very frustrating for victims of employer negligence, because worker’s comp settlements don’t even cover 100% of the victim’s financial losses, let alone their emotional damages.

If you’re an employee of JE Dunn, or if you’re looking for justice for a lost loved one who was employed by JE Dunn, your best option will probably be to sue a different company altogether.

Luckily, construction is a very collaborative industry, and it often takes multiple mistakes by multiple people for an accident to occur. Other companies that might be liable after a JE Dunn accident might include:

• Equipment rental companies — At least one of the accidents above involved a crane that JE Dunn had rented from another company. If that company failed to keep the crane in good working order, it would share responsibility for the accident.
• Maintenance companies — Construction equipment owners, JE Dunn included, often outsource maintenance tasks rather than performing them in-house. Companies that offer maintenance services but fail to notice signs of danger, or even make equipment more dangerous than it was before, are liable for resulting injuries.
• Equipment manufacturers — Some pieces of heavy machinery are needlessly dangerous right off the assembly line. If a machine lacks necessary safety mechanisms, or can’t stand up to the use it’s marketed for, the company that made it is liable for the results.
• Other contractors on the project — JE Dunn might partner or contract with any number of more specialized companies to get a project done. If one of those other contractors or subcontractors contributes to an accident that injures a JE Dunn employee, the employee can sue the at-fault contractor.

The Stoddard Firm has experience helping construction accident victims and their families get the full, fair compensation they need. To learn more, reach out by phone or chat for a free consultation on your case.