Conveyor Belt Injury Settled for $1.8 Million
Case Summary:
Amount: $1,800,000Court: Northwestern Ohio County
Date: May 2003
Plaintiff's Counsel: David M. Paris
Description: Product Liability / Employer Intentional Tort
Our client worked at a factory as an operator of a press and conveyor system. While the system was in operation, he left his station and went to the south side of the conveyor to get a closer look at the quality of the finished product. While there, he slipped on oil that had allegedly been a recurring problem of which management had been notified. In losing his balance, our client fell onto the unguarded energy track and his leg was traumatically amputated at the knee when the moving wagon pushed him down the conveyor line.
It was alleged that the employer knew of the hazard of the oil slicked floor located at an unguarded part of the conveyor line and, nonetheless, expected its employees to place themselves there to get a better view of imperfections in the finished product as it emerged from the press. The employer denied each of these allegations.
It was also alleged that the conveyor manufacturer was liable because the line was not guarded by safety railings and grids so that workers could not walk into danger areas and be injured. The manufacturer denied each of these allegations; argued that plaintiff had intentionally climbed on the conveyor and put himself at risk; and that, in any case, the obligation to incorporate safety devices was on the employer, not the manufacturer.
