Highway worker’s dragging claim not supported by evidence
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A highway worker who claims he was dragged by a car while doing repair work on a bridge failed to show sufficient evidence that the incident occurred, a judge with the Superior Court of Delaware ruled Wednesday.
On July 6, 2014, Shannon Selby, an employee with Newark, Delaware-based Talley Brothers Inc., was operating a jackhammer in a manhole on the I-495 bridge in Wilmington, Delaware, which was closed to traffic, when a vehicle illegally swerved past the closure while attempting to cross the construction barrier. The vehicle stopped but eventually sped off, according to court documents.
At issue were the conflicting stories between Mr. Selby, eyewitnesses and a medical examiner. Mr. Selby, who was working on the manhole while secured by a harness attached to a lanyard, claimed his body broke through a wooden barrier and was dragged when the car sped off with the lanyard tangled in its wheels, according to court documents. Meanwhile, an eyewitness testified that he had detached the lanyard before the car fled the scene. A medical exam also showed no lacerations and other injuries that would have been caused by such an event as claimed by Mr. Selby.
Mr. Selby, seeking total disability and medical expenses, appealed to the Industrial Accident Board on Feb. 3, 2016, which denied his claim on Wednesday.
According to the Superior Court ruling: “This Court finds satisfactory proof that a reasonable mind may accept as adequate to support the … conclusion that Claimant failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the July 6, 2014, accident occurred in a manner that caused the injuries claimed.”
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