Case Results · Construction Accidents

Daniel fell from a balcony without safety rails. The photographs challenged the builder’s explanation.

Daniel was texturing a ceiling at a townhouse construction site when he fell from a balcony with no safety rails. Brian Beckcom and the VB Attorneys team brought his case to trial, where photographs became important evidence in the dispute over the missing rails.

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Recovery$300,000 Verdict

Case at a glance

  1. Recovery: $300,000 Verdict
  2. Injury: Arm and facial fractures; neck and back disc injuries
  3. Practice: Construction Accidents
  4. Attorney: Brian Beckcom

A painter working beside an unguarded balcony

Daniel was working as a painter on a townhouse construction project. He was texturing a ceiling when he fell from a balcony. There were no safety rails at the balcony where he was working.

The fall left him with a broken left arm, a fractured eye socket, and herniated discs in his neck and lower back. His lawsuit focused on the protection missing from his work area and the responsibility of the companies working on the project.

The companies disputed what happened to the rails

Daniel sued the homebuilder, the sheetrock contractor, and his painting employer. His claims included negligence and premises liability.

The homebuilder argued that another contractor had removed the safety rails before Daniel began his work. That explanation made the condition of the balcony before the fall a central issue: had protection been installed and taken away, or had it never been installed?

Photographs tested that explanation

Brian presented Daniel’s case in Harris County district court. Accident-scene photographs taken shortly after the fall supported the argument that rails had never been installed.

The photographs showed no nail holes or other signs of prior safety rails. Daniel’s side used that physical evidence to challenge the claim that the protection had simply been removed by another contractor.

The jury assigned responsibility

The jury found Daniel 5% responsible, his painting employer 55% responsible, and the homebuilder 40% responsible. The verdict was $300,000.

The jury’s findings held the homebuilder and painting employer responsible for most of the damages. The case turned on more than competing explanations: the condition of the actual work area helped the jury assess who was responsible for the fall.

Questions about the case

He fell from a balcony without safety rails while texturing a ceiling at a townhouse construction site.
Photographs taken after the fall showed no nail holes or other signs of previous rails, supporting the argument that safety rails had never been installed.
The verdict was $300,000. The jury assigned 40% responsibility to the homebuilder, 55% to the painting employer, and 5% to Daniel.

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