It was the highest-ever construction injury settlement in Connecticut history, and one of the state's costliest personal injury cases. Benjamin Wohlfert, a laborer from North Canaan, was awarded the sum of $11.35 million.

But the case, where Stop & Shop and Pyramid Contractors were named as plaintiffs, is certain to raise serious questions about construction hiring practices and insurance. Contractors might now think twice about hiring tradesman from temporary agencies without paying directly for their workers' compensation coverage. While not paying workers' comp premiums saves money at the outset, it leaves contractors more vulnerable to unpredictable tort liability down the line.

Benjamin Wohlfert, then 29, was working for Providence R.I. – based Pyramid in March 2006 at the construction site of a North Canaan Stop & Shop supermarket. Pyramid hadn't hired Wohlfert directly. Torrington-based Alternative Employment, Inc. leased Wohlfert to Pyramid. Wohlfert was with two other men at the time of the mishap – carpenters Gerald Bates and Jean Kennedy – both of whom were working for Pyramid in a similar arrangement with other temp agencies.

The accident happened on St. Patrick's Day. Before knocking off for the day, they had to retrieve from the roof of the project a metal-cutting tool, known as a plasma cutter. But the one ladder to the roof had already been removed by the roofers. So Bates, who was the de facto foreman, instructed Kennedy and Wohlfert to get into a three-sided plywood box used for picking up construction debris. Bates then lifted the box with a type of forklift that was not designed to pick up people. When the lift was some 25 feet up in the air, the box began to break apart. Kennedy jumped to the roof, and to safety. Wohlfert fell to the ground, severely injuring his spine, and became a paraplegic. Hospitalized twice, during a second hospital stay he contracted the drug-resistant bacterial infection known as MRSA, and had to have a significant portion of his hip removed.

The use of construction workers from temp agencies has some advantages for general contractors. By paying the agency a premium over the worker's normal hourly wage, the contractor no longer has to handle the paperwork and expense of workers' compensation coverage, payroll, or unemployment insurance.