When Jesus Martinez was trapped and killed by a mortar mixer on his first day working as a brick layer’s helper, Nix Patterson stepped in to help his widow, Brenda Valdez-Martinez, and his children, Aaron, Jonathon, and Evelyn Martinez. The brick-layer was judgment proof and had no workers compensation insurance, and the mortar mixer manufacturer was defunct. Nix Patterson turned their attention to the seller of the mortar mixer and developed evidence demonstrating that the mixer was unreasonably dangerous because it had no emergency cut-off switch, no guard to prevent a worker from being caught by the mixer, and was powerful enough to crush a worker’s chest. Such dangerous equipment is not allowed to exist in any other industry. Nix Patterson is convinced that dangerous machines such as this mortar mixer are allowed to exist because many manual laborers are poorly educated and often immigrants who do not know their rights, but are treated as disposable if they are injured. Through its representation of Jesus Martinez’s widow and family, Nix Patterson has helped protect the rights of one manual laborers. Nix Patterson has also continued its protection of poorly educated and immigrant works and has begun a campaign against dangerous construction equipment.
Construction Death in West Campus, Austin, TX
marzo 12, 2023
On March 2nd, 2023, falling debris from a high-rise construction project struck and killed