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In September of last year, 7News told you about the demolition of the old Civic Center, to make way for a new sporting facility. The news was that it was being dismantled by hand so that jobless men from the neighbourhood could get some work. Â That’s a great social dimension, but there are risks when mauling down a hulking structure like the Civic. Â And those dangers were underscored when one of the employees, Egbert Jones, got seriously hurt when part of one of the walls fell on him. He suffered extensive injuries, and was bedridden for months.

Jones is now out of the hospital, but he claims that his injuries have permanently disabled him from being able to work and provide for himself. Moreover, he claims that Francis Woods, the Director of Cisco Construction, took advantage of him and tricked him into signing a settlement document in which he only got a fraction of what he deserves for his injuries. He spoke with us this evening, and started from the beginning on how the wall fell on him. Here’s what he told us:

Egbert Jones - Claims Cisco Construction Owes Him More Money
"I went to the wall, and when I got there, it may have been falling, but nobody was telling my anything. I had the thing in my hand to knock down the wall. I had the thing in my hand, knocking at the wall, which was coming down. But, nobody told me anything until my twin brother shouted out that the wall was falling. So, when I was running to try to escape the wall, it fell in my back, and just - that's all I remember. I don't really remember anything else. At the time, I was in the hospital, and the man came around and told me if I think that we are going to get any big money. I told the man that I wasn't worrying about any money, only my life. I came out, and like 2 weeks after, the Saturday I came out, the man came Monday with $12,000 to come and trick me. He told me that it was from insurance, and when I went to check at the Insurance, nothing went like that. I saw that the man had like about $70,000 - $80,000 on my head, and he only gave me $12,000. They man took advantage of me. The last thing he said when he came out of my house, for me not to take this to court. I need to take this to the court because the man gave a paper for me to be released. I didn't know the paper said release, until like 2 months, when I could see better. I read the paper, and it was marked released. This man only released me for $12,000, and nothing came out of it. This man hasn't come to look for me. I am calling this man; he doesn't want to pick up his phone. I called this man for a little money the other day, and he only sent $50 for me. What can $50 can do for me? Only I alone am going through the pain that I am going through right now. I can't even sleep in the night. My stomach burst 5 times. My eye came out. My hands are messed up, my foot. Only I know what I am going through. They this all the injuries I am going through right now. My pelvis broke; my hip is fractured; my foot broke. I went through an injury on my arm. My eye came out, and this man isn't looking out for me. This man says that he has given me up."

Daniel Ortiz
"Did you sign any document which said that - did you sign any document any at all when you got that money?"

Egbert Jones
"Yes, I signed it for $12,000, but I wasn't seeing well. I really needed the money at the time because nobody else can feed me. I have to feed myself and my family. My mother is dead; and my father is dead. I don't want to go out there and pick up any gun and kill nobody. From the police think I am a bad man. I am not ashamed to say it. I used to sell drugs. I am not into doing that anymore; I was changing my life. When I changed my life, I ended up getting hurt. And when I got hurt, it's like I'm still in the wrong, because my wrong is turning wrong again. I want my right turn right because right now, I have lost my eye. I can't get back an eye. I can get back a fake eye, but what, I can't see out of that." 

This evening, via text message, Francis Woods told us quote, “Mr. Jones is still pending Social Security review, he is receiving a weekly allowance from SSB. We did give him $12,000 and paid him right thru until he got out the hospital even though he was working with a subcontractor. We calculated the $12,000 as if he was a registered employee and used the standard Insurance formula based on his earnings.â€￾ End Quote.

Woods continues,