Personal Injury Lawyers and Trial Attorneys
Products liability – machine malfunction defect
Johnny Tipton v. Gramm Industries. Plaintiff was a maintenance supervisor at an Apiston manufacturing facility, Mahle, when the machine he was repairing suddenly and without warning to him crashed down onto his shoulders pinning him between the top of the machine and the floor. Plaintiff suffered the following injuries: compression fracture to the L2 vertebra which resulted in a L1-L2 interbody spinal fusion with pedicle screw fixation; and a quadricep injury and focal atrophy. The Plaintiffs contended that Defendant Gramm, a German corporation with no offices in the United States, had failed to properly design the machine and place safety devices on the machine which would protect service personnel while working on the piston anodizing machine. Plaintiffs’ investigation revealed that subsequent models of this machine had manual safeties in place that would prevent the falling of the machine on maintenance personnel. Plaintiff’s further investigation found that the Plaintiff’s employer had also placed its own safety devices in place that would prevent the machine from falling on maintenance personnel while working on the machine.
Status: confidential settlement
