Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy has resolved a case for $1.5 million on behalf of an oil and gas worker whose right leg was crushed at a drilling site in Noble County, Ohio, in October 2023.
Our client, a derrick hand, was performing his job on an active well pad when a commercial truck hauling a 130,000-pound piece of heavy drilling equipment backed into the space where he was working, pinning and crushing his right leg. He was airlifted from the site and underwent surgery for orthopedic injuries to his leg, followed by months of physical therapy.
A lawsuit was filed in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas. Liability was contested throughout. The well pad was a multi-employer worksite, with a drilling contractor, the well operator, and outside trucking and service companies all working in the same space. Because our client’s employer was immune under Ohio workers’ compensation law, the claim proceeded against the trucking company alone.
Plaintiff contended that the truck was backed into an occupied area without anyone positioned where they could see and clear the space behind it, and that ordinary backing and spotting practices would have prevented the incident. The trucking company denied negligence and argued, supported by retained safety experts, that our client, his employer, and coworkers were responsible for where he was positioned and for signaling the truck to back into the area.
Our client returned to the same physically demanding oilfield work roughly eight months after the injury and continued in that job throughout the litigation, despite ongoing pain and permanent physical limitations. The damages presentation was not built on past economic loss. His medical treatment was covered through the workers’ compensation system, and he was paid while he was off work, so the case turned on permanent impairment, future loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
The case was worked up for trial. Plaintiff took numerous fact depositions, including the trucking company’s corporate representatives, its driver, and its safety manager, and retained experts in workplace safety, orthopedic trauma, functional capacity, vocational rehabilitation, and economics. The parties briefed competing pretrial motions, and the case resolved approximately one month before the scheduled trial date.
