Man wins $7.25 million settlement after 40-foot museum fall

PHILADELPHIA -- Lawyers for an engineer who sued after he fell nearly 40 feet through a glass ceiling at a Philadelphia museum say the man has settled for $7.25 million.

Phani Guthula's attorneys say a settlement was reached on Friday with the defendants, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the security company AlliedBarton Security Services.

Guthula says a guard at the Rodin Museum in 2012 told him he could step on the glass to inspect lighting fixtures before he fell. His attorneys say he was hospitalized for over a month with injuries including femur, hip, pelvic and rib fractures.

"It was the most terrifying moment of his life," Guthula's attorney Larry Bendesky told CBS Philadelphia. "It's a more terrifying moment than most of us would ever be able to come to grips with."

Guthula's lawsuit had accused the museum and its security company of not protecting him.

A museum spokesman confirmed the settlement.

Attorneys for the security firm and the Art Museum did not immediately respond to a request by CBS Philadelphia.