An iron worker who suffered catastrophic injuries in a 20-foot fall at a construction site in Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, has reached a $40 million settlement shortly before trial.
The case stems from a May 25, 2023 incident at Fermilab, a particle physics laboratory and accelerator, where ironworker James Daniels was working on the $978 million Proton Improvement Project-II (PIP-II), planned to upgrade the lab’s particle accelerator to accommodate future research.
The settlement on behalf of Daniels was reached with the project’s general contractor, Whittaker Construction and Excavation Co. (WCEI), and the owner/construction manager, Fermi Research Alliance.
Daniels, a six-year member of Ironworkers Local 1, was working for subcontractor Nucor Harris Rebar Placement of Belvidere, Illinois, at the time of the incident. Although he had experience in structural ironwork, he was performing his first rebar installation task on the project, according to the filing.
Although no one witnessed the fall, investigators were able to see the entire incident on video captured by a camera in a building near the site.
On the day of the accident, Daniels climbed a 23-foot-high concrete wall to perform work on top of the structure, as directed by his foreman. While standing for about two minutes on a 4-inch-deep horizontal support beam near the top of the wall, he lost his footing and fell. During the fall, he struck leaning wall supports before landing on the concrete floor below. He lost consciousness, was airlifted from the scene and hospitalized for several weeks.
As ENR previously reported, the US Department of Energy issued a 200-page report identifying the security failures and recommending changes to prevent similar incidents.
“The The general contractor’s carpenters erected forms the day before the fall,” said Lou Cairo, an attorney with GWC Injury Attorneys, who represented Daniels. “There is no evidence that anyone working at this site has ever seen or worked in such a form in their careers. It was the first time the general contractor had used them and the first time any of the toolmakers had seen such a shape. This was also the first rebar job my client had ever worked on in his career.”
“His foreman ordered my client to climb the wall and tie a piece of rebar that his co-workers were going to pass to the opposite side,” Cairo said. “The plan was to go up and tie vertical pieces of rebar in various locations and then start tying horizontal pieces to those verticals. Finally, they were going to build a rebar wall that would be placed between the formwork to reinforce the concrete that had to be poured.”
Daniels suffered multiple traumatic injuries in the fall, including nerve damage and injury and chronic nerve pain affecting the left hand, multiple broken ribs, an ankle injury and a traumatic brain injury. He has not been able to return to work as a blacksmith. His medical expenses have exceeded $1.2 million, according to GWC.
In October 2025, the DOE issued a final notice to Harris Rebar for a civil penalty of $118,000. The DOE states that after the Whittaker event, steps were taken to ensure that all workers were trained to ensure 100% bonding of all workers climbing Doka® formwork. WCEI also trained all of its workers in fall protection and verified that Harris Rebar had also completed the training. WCEI also installed manufacturer-approved anchors and installed self-retracting lifelines at the top of the formwork to ensure workers were continuously tethered while climbing and working from the formwork. As a result, WCEI’s penalty was reduced to $59,000
Cairo said the settlement provides long-term financial security and resources for Daniels’ continued medical care and rehabilitation, while holding responsible parties accountable for what it characterized as a preventable incident.
Whittaker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
