Defective Industrial Equipment, Vehicles and Products

Defective product – Industrial plastic roll-stand causes hand injury

Settlement in product liability suit where the plaintiff suffered a workplace hand injury caused by roll-stand. The manufacturer of the machine had failed to properly guard a nip point with a barrier guard, light curtain, electric eye, trip wire, or presence-sensing device to prevent workers from coming into contact with nip rolls.

Firefighter’s leg amputated due to defective fire truck

Product liability claim was brought against the manufacturer and distributor of the truck for failing to design the truck with a safety mechanism to prevent uncontrolled movement in the event of a shift into gear while pumping.

Failure to maintain equipment – Power plant accident causes worker’s injuries

Settlement against power plant and safety contractor for twenty-six-year-old boilermaker apprentice who was severely injured when he was violently sucked into a boiler drum which had not been properly de-energized for contractor work during an annual shutdown.

Defective product – Airplane cargo loader

Settlement in product liability lawsuit for a Boston airline worker who sustained fractures of his pelvis and hip when the safety rails on a cargo loader failed to activate, allowing a 1,500 lb. pallet to move off the loader and land on the worker after the pallet fell approximately 15 feet. The accident occurred due to a manufacturing defect in an electronic sensor used to activate the safety rails whenever the loader was in operation.

Defective scissor lift injures construction worker

Settlement in product liability suit for construction worker who sustained severe crush and cardiovascular injuries due to the defective design of a safety device in an elevating scissor lift that allowed the lift to rise due to inadvertent contact with the joystick – the very hazard the safety device was intended to prevent.

Defective product – Industrial plastic roll-stand

Settlement in product liability suit where the plaintiff suffered a workplace hand injury caused by roll-stand. The manufacturer of the machine had failed to properly guard a nip point with a barrier guard, light curtain, electric eye, trip wire, or presence-sensing device to prevent workers from coming into contact with nip rolls.

Defective product – Industrial machine

Personal injury settlement against automotive fabric company for a worker who suffered fractures to his arm when caught in an industrial winding machine due to improper training, staffing and supervision, and improper warnings on the machine.

Defective aerial lift control design

Settlement reached for an electrical apprentice working on the Big Dig. The worker suffered an abdominal crush injury and an esophageal tear because of a malfunction with the bucket controls.

Construction accident – Defective formwork

Product liability settlement reached against the distributor of TAR Waller and the general contractor for injuries sustained by a construction foreman who fell when loop on wall formwork broke.

Hooper v. Davis-Standard Corp, et al., 482 F. Supp 2d 157 (2007)

After SUGARMAN lawyers successfully resolved a product liability action in favor of a machine worker injured by a defective industrial machine (recovering a substantial settlement from the machine manufacturer), the worker’s employer tried to bring an action against the same manufacturer for its business loss. The machine manufacturer successfully defeated the claims of the employer.

Griffin v. General Motors Corp., 380 Mass. 362 (1980)

Jury verdict against General Motors affirmed on appeal, in a case where an improperly designed car allowed fumes from the engine to enter the passenger compartment, explode, and severely burn the driver.