Verdicts and Settlements Hand Injuries $298,000 Settlement for Laborer in Cold Core Box Accident

$298,000 Settlement for Laborer in Cold Core Box Accident

Slywka v. CMI Equipment & Engineering Co.

Case Summary:

Our client was a 48-year old laborer employed by a temporary service and assigned to work as a core room helper at a foundry.   On the date of the accident, our client was teamed with a full-time supervisor who was producing paint cores on a cold core box machine.  Immediately prior to the accident, our client was left alone with the cold core box and told by the supervisor to keep the machine running while the supervisor went to assist another operator. Our client was reaching to pick up a bucket of sand that was left in front of the machine when he slipped and fell.  His right wrist was crushed in the clamping area of the cold core box machine.

The cold core box machine, manufactured by defendant CMI Equipment, was defective as designed because it was not equipped with light curtains to prevent inadvertent entry into the point of operation area.  The machine was also defective because the location of the controls was positioned such that it permitted a person to get too close to the point of operation area.

Our client suffered fractures to three of the bones in his dominant right wrist, as well as the metacarpal of his small finger.  He underwent two surgeries, one of which involved a fusion of his wrist.  Our client also suffered damage to the median and ulnar nerves, which ultimately lead to Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and was also diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Outcome:

The hand injury case settled before trial for $298,000.  The case was handled by Philadelphia products liability attorney, Richard M. Jurewicz of Galfand Berger. For more information on this case, please call the law firm at 1-800-222-USWA (8792) or contact Mr. Jurewicz at [email protected].