Blankingship & Keith Secures $7 Million Settlement in Construction-Site Wrongful Death Case

Attorneys Peter S. Everett, Robert J. Stoney, M. Barkley Horn, and Aimee N. Solano of Blankingship & Keith, P.C., together with Craig B. Davis of Reinhardt Harper Davis, secured a $7 million settlement for the family of a husband and father of seven who was tragically killed while working at a construction site in Northern Virginia.

The incident happened at the end of a workday at a large high-rise development. As the decedent performed routine concrete testing at street level, a crowbar fell from more than 100 feet above and struck him in the head. Despite wearing a hard hat, the injuries proved fatal.

In the days, weeks, months and years that followed, neither the construction companies involved nor the Virginia Department of Labor offered a coherent explanation as to how the tool fell or who was responsible. The family’s legal team argued forcefully that the death could have been prevented if basic safety measures had been in place. Workers on the ground were left exposed beneath active construction without protections commonly used on high-rise projects, such as overhead shielding, barricades, or secured tools.

The defendants disputed responsibility. The family’s attorneys focused instead on a simple truth: construction sites are dangerous, and owners and contractors have a duty to protect the people working there, especially when hazards are well known and lives are at stake.  And any number of routine safety measures would have saved this remarkable man’s life.

This resolution provided the family with a measure of accountability and financial security, while honoring the life of a man who was deeply loved and whose loss will always be felt.

“This case was about accountability,” said Everett. “When workers are placed beneath active high-rise construction without adequate protections, the risk is obvious and the consequences can be fatal. This settlement reflects the magnitude of that failure and the profound loss suffered by this family.”