Armstrong's Case

Armstrong was employed as a cement mason by Carlyle Construction Corporations of Massachusetts I and II (Carlyle) while Carlyle was erecting the two forty-story Harbor Towers apartment buildings near Atlantic Avenue, Boston. He was injured very seriously on March 10, 1971, when the construction had gone up at least twenty-five stories.

The present case arises because of Armstrong’s claim under G. L. c. 152, § 28, as appearing in St. 1943, c. 529, § 9, permit ting the recovery of double compensation by an “employee . . . injured by reason of the serious and wilful misconduct of an employer or…