Worker Burned in Wisconsin Football Stadium Renovation Gets $22 Million Settlement

A worker burned during 2022 stadium renovations to Wisconsin’s football stadium has agreed to a $22 million settlement with the contracting company.

The settlement was first reported by the Wisconsin State Journal and confirmed by the worker’s lawyer to Front Office Sports and other outlets. The accident happened during renovations that included adding premium seating to Camp Randall and cost nearly $70 million.

Jeremy Rose, employed by the subcontractor Maly Roofing, was applying a flammable liquid to the floor in a mechanical room beneath the stadium when another worker used a flame torch to dry part of the floor, according to the Associated Press. Running from the explosion, Rose spilled a bucket of the liquid on himself and was engulfed in flames, his attorney Daniel Rottier says, burning nearly three-quarters of his body.

“Our thoughts are with the individual who was injured this morning and we are grateful to the first responders both already on-site as well as from fire and police personnel, who assisted during the incident,” UW Athletics said in a statement when the accident happened.

A hot work permit is what it sounds like: a permit for work that produces a flame, heat, or sparks. Rottier says JP Cullen & Sons, the general contractor on the renovation project, had a hot work permit at one time but didn’t when the incident occurred and didn’t get one to operate the flame torch.

“Placing workers at risk by cutting corners on safety is not only morally wrong, it is bad business in the long run,” says Rottier in a statement to FOS. “Simple compliance with industry standards and internal standards would have prevented this accident.”

Rose was set to go to civil trial last month against Cullen, but the settlement was reached 10 days before it was set to start, according to the AP, which also reported that Cullen did not acknowledge any wrongdoing.

A number of other workers were in the area at the time of the incident, but none of them were injured or have filed claims against Cullen, Rottier says.