The Ginarte Law Firm congratulates one of our attorneys on his recent victory at trial in Essex County in the matter of Diaz v. North East Linen Supply Company.   Our attorney obtained at 1.6 million dollar verdict.  The Honorable W. Hunt Dumont presided over the case.

Carlos Diaz tragically passed away on December 1, 2007 in an accident involving a confined space.  At trial our attorney successfully proved that Mr. Diaz’s employer sent Carlos into the tank with substantial certainty that serious injury or death would occur.  Our attorney’s medical expert, Dr. Peter Salgo, determined that Carlos suffered from internal burning and asphyxiation, and suffered for approximately five to ten minutes before he ultimately died.  The jury rejected the testimony of Dr. Michael Baden, who attempted to argue that death was instant and painless.

The case fell under Laidlow v. Harriton Machinery, 170 N.J. 602 (2002) and its progeny.  Under that line of cases, a plaintiff is required to prove that the employer acted with conduct tantamount to intentional conduct.  In other words, for a plaintiff to succeed in a Laidlow action, he must prove that the employer was substantially certain that its conduct would result in serious injury or death.  The burden is incredibly high and very difficult for a plaintiff.  Our attorney’s victory is truly impressive.

The Diaz verdict is our attorney’s second Laidlow verdict in a 14 month period.  Last February, our attorney obtained a verdict in Gomez v. Tec-Cast under a similar theory in Bergen County.