Lawsuit Settled Over Worker’s Fall at Nebraska School

A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit in an accident that injured a worker who fell 30 feet while removing an old scoreboard at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.

KNEB radio says the school’s insurance carrier settled the lawsuit for $915,000.

Mack Downey and his wife, Deborah, sued over his fall at Cougar Palace in 2003. A trial court divided the negligence at about 33 percent among Downey, the college and a sign company.

The school appealed. The Nebraska Supreme Court in January released the sign company from liability and returned the case to the lower court to apportion the sign company’s share of the negligence between Downey and the school.

WNCC attorney Phil Kelley says instead of continued litigation, its insurance carrier settled the lawsuit.