Jeffrey Sieben recently settled a significant claim for a Sprinkler Fitter from Owatonna, Minnesota. The total settlement was in excess of $1,000,000.

Our client was traveling on Interstate 35 when suddenly and without warning a 29–inch metal stake weighing approximately 20 pounds penetrated the windshield of the van he was driving, striking our client in the head.  As a result, our client’s vehicle crashed into the ditch and slammed to a stop against the median.

Our client was transported by ambulance to the Owatonna Hospital with severe head injuries. At the hospital a CT of the head and neck were performed and confirmed that he suffered a fractured skull.  The four inch laceration was closed.  Our client was then airlifted to Mayo Clinic in Rochester and presented as a red level trauma.  He underwent neurosurgery and then months of additional treatment and therapy. He was fully disabled from work for over a year.

Attorney Jeffrey Sieben fought the Uninsured Motorist claim in Federal Court. He proved that the liability for the collision and our client’s injuries rested with an unidentified (phantom) driver, who was operating a vehicle containing materials that were improperly and negligently secured. It was the negligent loading of the masonry stake by the phantom motorist that caused our client’s injuries.

In addition to the significant Uninsured Motorist settlement, Sieben’s partner, Michael Scully, successfully overturned our client’s workers’ compensation denial and our client was awarded his deserved workers’ compensation benefits.