$839,000 for Work Injury

Klouser v. Brady: A selfemployed electrician injured in a worksite fall settled his Middlesex County suit for $839,000 on April 26.

In September 2003, Harold Klouser, of Edison, fell through an unrailed stair opening from the second floor to the basement of a Monmouth Junction house, suffering fractures of the C6, C7, T2 and T3 vertebrae, says his lawyer, David Maran of Maran & Maran in Newark.

Klouser, now 58, uses a cane, has sleep and motor control problems, and cannot bend his dominant right thumb, Maran says.

Klouser sued general contractor Martin Brady of Edison and framing subcontractor Greenwoods Construc-tion of Newark. Greenwoods filed a third-party suit against nailing subcontractor Ednamar Bernadinno. The defendants claimed Klouser failed to demonstrate that the lack of a barrier led to the accident.

In a conference with Superior Court Judge Jamie Happas, Brady agreed to pay $513,000, Greenwoods $213,000 and Bernadinno $113,000.

Greenwoods' lawyer, Michael Dankanich of Zarwin, Blum, DeVito, Kaplan, Schaer & Toddy in Marlton, confirms the settlement. Brady's lawyer, Clark McFadden of Weston, Stierli & McFadden in
Parsippany, and Bernadinno's lawyer, E. Michael Garrett Jr. of Barrett, Lazar & Lincoln in Maywood, did not return calls.

- By Charles Toutant