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Attorney Raymond Ganim announced Friday that he recently won the award for the estate of the Naugatuck resident who died as a result of a tree cutting accident at a Middlebury home in 2012.
Superior Court Judge Mark Taylor awarded the $1.2 million to the estate of Michael J. Pranulis, who died on Nov. 4, 2012, while working with K. Landscaping of Waterbury in a tree cutting accident.
Pranulis' estate sued K. Landscaping for wrongful death and negligence.
At the time of the accident, Pranulis had climbed the tree and had a rope with him used to tie to the portions of the tree that was being cut to lower it to the ground by K. Landscaping employees acting as groundsmen controlling the other end of the rope.
The lawsuit claimed the accident occurred when too much slack was allowed in the rope by K. Landscape employees as a large limb was being cut and as a result when the cut limb fell it caused a jerking of the tree which snapped the tree beneath where Pranulis was working, Ganim said.
The snapped tree, along with Pranulis, unexpectedly fell to the ground resulting in Pranulis' death.
“This accident was a tragedy and could have been avoided,” said Ganim “No amount of money can ever compensate the family of this loved man for this loss of life but this judgment by the court can and will ease the loss to the family.”
The $1.2 million judgment awarded was the result of a settlement agreement presented to the court following a successful arbitration process initiated as a means of dispute resolution following the filing of the lawsuit against K. Landscaping.
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