$6.6M settlement for injured construction worker fuels demands for workplace safety

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A significant legal settlement for a severely injured construction worker is prompting his family and workers’ rights advocates to raise awareness about workplace safety.
Due to legal restrictions, attorneys are referring to their client as Mr. Chen and say they cannot share specific details about Chen’s employer or the site where he was injured.
Attorneys say on Feb. 1, 2019, Chen was working on a roof at a commercial construction site and fell about 12 feet. He landed on his back and was paralyzed from the waist down at the time ― an injury they say could have been prevented had there been appropriate supervision and safety enforcement.
“There were, unfortunately, a lack of safe protocols, policies, there was a lack of safety training, and unfortunately, there was a lack of safety equipment as well,” said Jeremy O’Steen, of law firm Miyashita & O’Steen.
They say an unsafe workplace led to their client’s catastrophic injury.
The case was settled for $6.6 million after more than four years of litigation, and now the family is working with workers’ rights advocates so other families don’t suffer like they did.
Through surgery and rehabilitation, Chen can now walk short distances but he remains bound to a wheelchair and depends on his wife, who quit her job to care for him, and their two adult children.
While the $6.6 million settlement gives some justice and closure, Chen’s daughter Kara says it doesn’t make up for years of pain and suffering.
“I don’t want other families to go through the physical pain and the emotional struggle that our family are facing every day,” she said through an interpreter. “I hope the tragedy that happened to our family can play a bigger role to bring the awareness of the importance of workplace safety and enforcement.”
“Employers have a legal and moral responsibility to take care of their employees. If employers are not taking responsibility for their workers, that’s why you have attorneys like us, and we will hold them accountable,” O’Steen said.
But getting an attorney is difficult, especially for immigrants like Chen who have limited English proficiency and don’t understand their rights under U.S. law.
Many end up forgoing costly litigation.
“It seems like they are just at a disadvantage,” O’Steen said. “They’re forced into this process where they’ll be dragged through depositions and essentially interrogation by oftentimes someone on the other side who doesn’t believe them, and that’s hard. That’s stressful. It’s anxiety producing.”
It’s why the law firm is working with the Hawaii Workers Center to crack down on employers who flout the law.
“If they’re not going to follow through on any kind of way to compensate or to improve the work situations, workplace situations, then yes, we’re going to follow through with the litigation,” said Rev. Sam Domingo, board chairman of the Hawaii Workers Center.
To help workers who’ve been hurt on the job and prevent workplace injuries, Miyashita & O’Steen is donating $50,000 to the Hawaii Workers Center for training and legal resources.
Visit hawaiiworkerscenter.org or contact [email protected] for more information. The nonprofit is located at 1545 Linapuni St., Kuhio Park Towers, Tower B, Unit 112 in Kalihi.
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