Liberty State Park Restoration Fall Yields $2 Million Settlement for Injured Construction Worker

The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal at Liberty State Park was undergoing a state-funded restoration in 2015 when a construction worker identified in litigation as Sierra fell through a metal grate inside the historic structure. The fall carried him to a lower level of the building and produced injuries that would take nearly a decade of litigation to resolve.

Sierra was working as a mechanical tradesperson at the site when the grate beneath him collapsed. He fell from a significant height, sustaining bone fractures and spinal injuries that physicians classified as severe and permanent. Multiple surgeries followed in the years after the accident. The damage to his spine affected his mobility and his ability to return to construction work, and he continued to deal with lasting physical limitations long after the fall.

H&S Construction & Mechanical, based in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was named as the responsible party. The company holds prequalification status with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority for work across several building trades, including HVAC, plumbing, sheet metal, historical restoration, and general construction. The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey Superior Court, alleged that H&S failed to maintain a safe work environment at the site and bore responsibility for the defective metal grate condition that caused Sierra's fall.

John J. Ratkowitz of Ginarte Gonzalez & Winograd LLP represented Sierra. A partner in the firm's Newark office, Ratkowitz focuses on construction accident and workplace injury cases in New Jersey and New York. Discovery produced the factual record on both the site conditions and the long-term impact of Sierra's injuries. Negotiations proceeded over multiple years before the parties agreed to a resolution.

The case settled in 2024 for $2 million. The New Jersey Law Journal reported on the outcome in October 2024, identifying it as a construction site fall at Liberty State Park. TopVerdict placed the result at No. 27 on its ranked list of the 50 largest personal injury settlements in New Jersey for the year, in a field that required outcomes exceeding $100,000 to qualify. The settlement covered damages for the fractures Sierra sustained, his permanent spinal injury, the cost of multiple surgeries, and the long-term reduction in his earning capacity.