September 16 , 2006

$2M AWARD FOR WORKERS NOT FREE AND CLEAR

SHELTON — A city carpenter seriously injured when he and another man t mbled from a roof at the New Canaan Nature Center eight years ago will receive part o more than $2 million from the company that manufactured a defective roof bracket the state Supreme Court ruled

But attorneys representing Neil Barry and the other man, Bernard Cohade of Stamford, say that the men will only see about half of the $2.2 million that the manufacturer, Quality Steel Products of Michigan, was ordered to pay for the 1998 accident, because part of it must be repaid to the insurance company that paid workers’ compensation claims related to the case.

As a result of the requirement to repay a total of $342,000, the attorneys are considering suing The Hartford insurance company, the workers’ compensation carrier in the case, based on their claims that the company prevented a quicker settlement.

Barry and Cohade were seriously injured when a roof bracket gave way and they tumbled from the roof of the New Canaan Nature Center to the frozen, debris-covered ground 12 feet below.

A jury had already awarded Barry $1.2 million and Cohade almost $900,000, and the state Supreme Court rejected Quality Steel Product’s appeal this week and upheld that verdict.

The accident left Barry, 52, looking for a new line of work due to a broken back and broken hand and left Cohade with crippling injuries that have kept him only working part-time. The suit took eight years to litigate. But New York attorney Andrew Maloney III, who represented Cohade, said that it could have been settled much sooner had The Hartford agreed to reduce the amount both men would be required to repay should the suit be successful.

"They actually stood in the way of getting this thing resolved," Maloney said Friday. "The refused to negotiate. ... We didn’t have the freedom (to negotiate) because we were starting out at negative ... (amount of money)."

It isn’t unusual for workers’ compensation insurers to require that injured workers repay the money they collected once a lawsuit is returned in their favor, Maloney said, but other states, like New York, have laws that workers only have to pay back two-thirds of that to help defray other costs in bringing the suit, such as attorney’s fees.

But Connecticut has no such law and workers have to repay all the money they receive; in Barry’s case he owes $150,000 and Cohade owes $192,000.

If The Hartford had lowered its estimated reimbursement from the get-go, Maloney said, Quality Steel Products may well have settled out of court early on instead of dragging the case out for eight years.

Barry’s attorney, Joel Faxon of New Haven, said Friday he was glad the case turned out in their favor but like Maloney, he is livid over The Hartford’s refusal to lower the projected payback. The two lawyers spent about $175,000 pursuing the lawsuit.

The attorney who represented Quality Steel Products, based in Milford, Mich., could
not be reached for comment Friday.

The Hartford said it doesn’t comment on specific cases, but that it follows all state laws and rules.

Phil Helsel can be reached at 876-3028 or phelsel@nhregister.com.

©New Haven Register 2006