A father and son were independent contractors on their first day at a new job site applying siding to a single-family home. Part of the home was too tall for their ladder to reach so they had to place it on the second floor balcony. The father was holding the ladder for his son, who was applying the siding. As they were working, the porch detached from the house and fell to the ground, taking the father with it and leaving his son clinging for life on the roof of the home. The father suffered life-threatening injuries because of the fall and was put into a medically-induced coma.

Harry Sieben filed claims against the owner and general contractor of the building project for negligence and carelessness, recovering $770,500.