HOUSTON - A makeshift saw and no defense has cost a Houston-area construction company close to $25,000.
Harris County District Court judge Beau Miller entered a default judgment on Oct. 22 for Amaury Perez Pascual, a worker who says he was injured on the job thanks to a sanding machine being turned into an actual saw.
FY Construction was the subject of an earlier default judgment but finally filed an answer to the case in December 2022, more than two years after Pascual filed suit.
Given its second chance to defend itself, FY instead neglected to show up for trial.
"Defendant FY Construction had notice of the trial setting but did not attend with counsel. Plaintiff moved for default judgment," Miller's Oct. 22 order says.
"The court determined that it had jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties in this proceeding. After considering the pleadings, the papers on file in this case, and the evidence presented, the Court hereby grants Plaintiff's motion for default judgment."
Miller awarded Pascual $18,520.35 in actual damages, plus $6,825.44 in interests and court costs. Post-judgment interest could increase that amount if FY doesn't pay.
Pascual's 2020 complaint sought between $100,000-$200,000. It said he was working for FY in 2018 under the supervision of Laicheng Sun at a jobsite in Corpus Christi.
Pascual was to cut wood for siding but the saw he was provided was questionable, the suit says. It was a handheld sanding machine with no safety guard.
Where the sandpaper was attached to the machine had been replaced with a saw blade, turning it into a sort-of handheld weapon, it is alleged. Pascual says he complained to Sun about how unsafe it was.
"As soon as Plaintiff began to cut the wood, the saw jolted back at Plaintiff," the complaint says.
"Because the device was not meant for use as a saw blade and did not have the proper safety guard, the blade came into direct contact with Plaintiff's chest, severely lacerating his chest, throat and chin."
Pascual says he suffered permanent scarring. FY's 2022 answer to the case said Sun wasn't its employee.
FY represented itself in limited responsive pleadings through Naomi Yu and argued Pascual also wasn't its employee at the time of the accident.
In explaining why it took so long to respond to the complaint, Yu wrote: "I hired a paralegal to prepare and file the answer on time. The paralegal I hired is a crook, a liar and a cheater. he took my my money, did nothing, and told me he already filed the answer.."
Anna McMullen of The Amanaro Law Firm represented the plaintiff.