A Lake County jury awarded a couple $48 million for injuries the man sustained after a workplace accident.

The jury deliberated six hours before returning the verdict Dec. 11 in Lake Superior Court in Crown Point. Anthony and Sarah Arciniega sued Minteq International, a contractor at International Steel Group Burns Harbor, and International Steel Group in Portage, after Anthony, a millright, fell from a stationary ladder that had been over-sprayed with refractory concrete in November 2004. Anthony suffered T-8 paraplegia and returned to work six months later in a wheelchair.

The jury awarded $40 million to Anthony and $8 million to his wife, Sarah. The jury allocated 50 percent fault to Minteq and 50 percent fault to ISG Burns Harbor. The award is believed to be the biggest in Indiana for a paraplegia injury, according to attorney Kenneth J. Allen, who represented the plaintiffs with his partner Bryan Bradley.