Clark Law Firm Secures $9.5 Million Jury Verdict Judgment for Severely Injured Worker
Gerald H. Clark & Jake W. Antonaccio of the Clark Law Firm attain a $9.5 Million Jury Verdict Judgment on behalf of a severely injured worker.
Belmar, NJ – On October 15, 2026, Clark Law Firm obtained a $9.5 million jury verdict judgment for its client, Warley Martins, in an Essex County, New Jersey construction injury case. The trial evidence revealed the following.
The case arose from a 30 foot fall the worker sustained on a Jersey City apartment renovation project run by general contractor defendant Callico (aka Calico) Construction Corporation and its principal, Glenn Alan Cancro. Callico/Cancro hired Globo Flooring to do wood flooring repairs in the units. On January 21, 2021, Plaintiff Warley Martins was working on the project as a laborer for Globo Flooring. The evidence showed that Alan Cancro was a difficult, hands-on job boss who would frequently yell at the workers using profanity. He made the workers feel on edge and scared about getting in trouble.
Callico/Cancro constructed the units with self-closing and locking doors, making it very easy to get locked out. The job had several instances in the past where workers would get locked out of the units and needed to have Cancro send his foreman, Al Diaz, to come open the doors. Cancro would not provide keys or locked boxes for the subcontractors to access the unoccupied units.
On the day in question at about 5:00, Warley Martins received a call from his direct manager, Alan Barbosa, that he needed to go pick up the other Globo Flooring workers at another job. Warley walked out of the unit, the door slammed and locked behind him and he realized the van keys were still inside. He called his direct manager who said he was over an hour away and in any event had no key. He told Warley to call the Callico foreman, Al Diaz, who was with Alan Cancro only about 5-10 minutes away.
For no apparent reason, Cancro refused to let Al Diaz come back and open the door, leaving Warley outside on a cold, dark Jersey City street. Al Diaz instead told Warley he should climb up the rear balcony where the sliding door was unlocked. Warley had no other way to get the workers or home, felt dumb for what happened, and was afraid he would get in trouble. So he did what he was told.
When Warley got to the third floor, the balcony spindle gave way, and he fell 30 feet onto concrete sustaining devastating injuries. He underwent 12 surgeries with extensive plates and screws in his legs and will need more. He is in pain, permanently disfigured, disabled and unable to work as a laborer.
A Good Samaritan helped Warley and called 911. The police called Cancro from the scene who told them he has a lot of connections in Jersey City and denied having anything to do with the job or the worker. At no time did he ask about the injured worker nor offer to help. Instead, exercising his significant control over the job and Globo Flooring, he deducted $450 from their pay for the broken spindle. This corroborated Warley’s testimony about these job pressures and fear of getting in trouble.
Glenn Alan Cancro had a 30-year history of ignoring mandatory OSHA work safety rules on his projects. This would be like an airline ignoring the FAA regulations or a trucking company ignoring the Federal Motor Carrier Act safety rules. A former OSHA official, Vincent Gallagher, testified that Callico/Cancro violated a basic set of rules designed to keep workers safe, including industry standards about providing safe ingress and egress to the job site. These standards were put in place in response to things like the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire where 146 workers were killed because they were locked inside the factory. Gallagher testified that industry safety standards required Callico Construction to provide a safe way for workers to get into the unit. They should have unlocked the door and not told the desperate worker to climb up.
After two days of deliberations and several questions, a jury of 6 women and 2 men found Callico Construction/Cancro 85% at fault for the incident and the worker 15% at fault. The jury awarded $6,000,000 for pain, suffering, disability and permanent life changes, $943,000 for past and future medical expenses, and $1,829,850 for past and future wage losses. Years before trial Clark Law Firm filed a formal offer with the Court to resolve the matter for $1.9 million which the insurance company for the defendants, Liberty Mutual, ignored. As such Liberty Mutual Insurance Company is responsible for paying additional penalties under the Court Rules. As of October 15, 2026 the total judgment is $9.5 million which increases by over $1800 each day for interest until it is paid.
The case, Warley Martins v. Calico Construction Co., et al, Docket No.: ESX-L-7479-22 was tried in Essex County Superior Court over a 10-day period from August 10-20, 2026, before the Honorable Thomas R. Vena, J.S.C. Lead counsel for the plaintiff, Gerald Clark, Esq. of the Clark Law Firm, PC, and host of the Jersey Justice Podcast, commented, “We are humbled by the hard work of 8 patriotic community members who gave up 2 weeks of their lives to hear this case and render justice. The way this job site was run and how it caused such terrible injuries to our client is unfortunate. We are glad were able to get him some measure of justice.” Clark added, “The insurance company for the defendants should now do the right thing and pay the judgment, although we are not optimistic given as of today, they still have offered nothing.” Clark Law Firm attorney, Jake Antonaccio, who also tried the case with Mr. Clark, commented, “this is a victory for all workers who have ever been forced into dangerous situations.” Clark credits much of his success to the book Becoming a Trial Lawyer by Rick Friedman and published by Trial Guides.
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Clark Law Firm, PC
811 Sixteenth Avenue, Belmar, NJ 07719
Phone: (732) 690-3151
www.clarklawnj.com