Injured worker at IKEA wins $2 million from jury

By Rachel Tobin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A worker injured in 2005 while installing equipment in IKEA, the giant home goods retailer in Atlantic Station in Midtown, has won a $2 million verdict from a Fulton County State Court jury.

William Bradley Hall had sued Vratsinas Construction Co., the general contractor of the project, for damages after he fell from a ladder and injured his knee while installing a security system in the store.

According to details in the lawsuit, Hall says he was only using a ladder to pull wires from the ceiling grid after a supervisor from Vratsinas instructed him not to use a scissor lift because another worker had damaged the ceiling while using the equipment that provides a raised platform on which to stand.

Hall's fall resulted in multiple surgeries, including a total knee replacement and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. He also accrued medical bills and lost wages because of resulting arthritis and nerve damage.

Hall worked for Consumer Security Systems, which was hired by IKEA, but did not have a direct line of command from Vratsinas.

That detail is what allowed Hall’s suit to go forward, said his lawyer, John Sherrod with Sherrod & Bernard in Douglasville.

“Had Consumer Security Systems been a subcontractor of Vratsinas, Georgia law would not have allowed this suit to go forward,” Sherrod said, and Hall would have had to pursue damages through workers' compensation.

There was no immediate word from Vratsinas’ lawyer on whether the company would appeal the verdict.