An undocumented worker in New York may resort to a lawsuit against his former employer for failing to provide medical care after he suffered a serious fall while on a construction site in Manhattan in November 2008.
Javier Tacuri was an undocumented worker for Bridge Street Contracting, Inc when he fell from an elevator. Tacuri has said the fall resulted in his suffering a traumatic brain injury, cognitive defects, and mild damage to his heart because his supervisor failed to provide prompt medical attention after the work-related fall.
The victim said that the supervisor of the construction site at the time of the fall told workers to douse Tacuri with buckets of cold water to revive him and did not allow workers to transport Tacuri to the hospital to seek treatment. The avoidance of medical care is believed to be due to the supervisor’s concern over the legal status of Tacuri at the time of the construction site accident. Tacuri was taken home by his co-workers and was eventually able to seek medical assistance two and half hours later.
Tacuri did receive benefits from workers compensation for his fall injury and filed a previous lawsuit against Bridge Street and the owner of the site EMFT in February 2009. The latest lawsuit filed by Tacuri against the plaintiffs is for battery and breach of care. The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court ruled he could not sue for emotional distress.
