We trust building developers to create safe environments for our homes or workspaces, but construction negligence can result in serious injuries for the people occupying these spaces. When those injuries happen, you can often sue the builder for personal injury.
In this case study, you’ll see how negligent work by a home developer caused serious injuries to an innocent teenager and also the depth of the work we did to prove the builder and others were liable.
About Schneider Williamson
Schneider Williamson is a personal injury litigation firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm handles litigation, discovery, and mediation for a wide variety of personal injury cases, including slip and fall accidents, car accidents, traumatic brain injury, and more.
The Accident
Disclaimer: Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
David was a 13-year-old student who had dreams of attending West Point. He and his family were living in a new suburban housing development.
The house they rented shared a backyard with an adjacent property; there was no fence separating the houses, only a slope that descended from David’s yard to the neighbor’s house below.
David was shooting hoops in his backyard when the basketball got away from him and started to roll down the slope toward the neighbor’s house. As David chased down the ball, he stepped into a swale (a ditch used to divert water) that had been hidden beneath decorative pine straw.
David fell and snapped his forearm in half.
The injury was gruesome, but the complications were even worse. After the fracture was repaired, David developed compartment syndrome, an extremely painful condition where the tissue between the muscles becomes inflamed; this is a known risk factor when repairing compound fractures.
“It was nasty,” says Campbell Williamson, a founding partner at Schneider Williamson. “David’s arm looked like Popeye’s, from the cartoon. They had to slice it open and let the swelling reduce over time. It took three weeks. He was in such terrible pain that they were giving him Oxycontin, and a psychiatrist would come in daily to see him, because he’d be screaming in pain.”
On the left side of the image, a slope and swale — similar to the environment where the fall happened. In our case, the ditch was empty and concealed by pine straw; here, you can see that it’s clearly visible and filled with water.
Whose Negligence?
Questions surrounded the swale which David had stepped into, causing the injury. Why was the swale dug, who was responsible and why had it been concealed?
The backyard slope had caused problems for David’s neighbor. Every time it rained, water would wash down the slope and carry clay into the neighbor’s yard, killing the grass. The neighbor had complained to the builders of the housing development, who enlisted a contractor to come up with a solution. They decided to build a swale to divert the rainwater but covered it with pine straw to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.
“It was only six inches deep, but it was hidden—they covered it up with pine straw,”
says Campbell. “You couldn’t tell it was there. When our client took the final step, his foot went into the swale, and that’s what caused him to go down.”
We learned that concealing a swale goes against common practice.
“We had professionals come in and evaluate the swale. It was a great idea, but they emphasized that a swale should never be camouflaged. You’re supposed to leave it open and obvious to prevent people from stumbling into it.”
So, who was to blame for the accident? Fault could reasonably be placed on:
- The housing developer, who commissioned the swale
- The contractor, who camouflaged the swale
- The neighbor, who requested the swale to be built
- The family’s landlord, who owned an unsafe property
When our clients came to us, they told us David was being blamed for his injuries. When he chased after the basketball, he was presumably trespassing on the neighbor’s property, where the swale was located.
However, when our firm got involved with the case, we discovered new evidence that proved we had legal basis for suing the builder for personal injuries.
Setting the Facts Straight
Soon after being hired, our team sent a professional surveyor to the property.
The surveyor found that the swale hadn’t been built on the neighbor’s property at all — it had actually been constructed on the property that David’s family was renting.
“David had presumably been trespassing onto the neighbor’s property, so could you really make a claim of negligence?” says Campbell. “Well, that turned out not to be true. He was still on his family’s rented property — so the neighbors had trespassed onto their property when they had the swale built.”
After further investigation, we discovered that the housing developer and their contractor knew that they were building the swale on the property rented by David’s family, which was illegal since they didn’t have the permission of the property owner.
“The foreman told the landscaper to build the swale. The landscaper told the foreman that he thought the swale would be on the neighbor’s property. The foreman said, “Don’t worry about it; they’re just renters.””
“They knew they were trespassing on someone’s property. However, they felt it was okay to treat our clients differently because they were renting the home and they didn’t own it,” says Campbell.
“They could have knocked on the front door and told David’s family what was happening. But they didn’t. We felt there was some class discrimination there.”
The Settlement
David recovered from his injuries, but his arm never regained full strength after the accident. Because of the severity and permanent nature of the injury, West Point was no longer an option for him.
“We got him a very nice settlement from all the responsible parties,” says Jason Schneider, a founding partner at Schneider Williamson. “The landlord, neighbor, builder and contractor all contributed to the settlement. The money will pay for David’s college education and living expenses.”
“It was extremely gratifying to Campbell, me and our entire staff to help this family in their time of need,” said Jason. “In the wrong hands, this case could have turned out very differently.”
Need guidance on suing a builder for personal injuries? Contact Schneider Williamson today and set up a free consultation, or learn about referring cases to us.
