Bailey, Javins, & Carter Obtains Substantial Settlement for Injured Industrial Worker

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Sep 03, 2020, 13:45 ET

ATLANTA, Sept. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Workplace accident cases are often more complex than they first appear, and such was the situation with an injured worker Bailey, Javins, & Carter, LC recently represented and secured a seven-figure settlement for. This case involved an industrial worker who was operating a large rotational piece of equipment when his PPE (personal protective equipment) sleeve and got caught in the machinery and horribly injured his arm.

The accident resulted in a shattered humerus bone along with devastating muscle and nerve injuries as he was hurled several feet into the air and left hanging by his fractured arm, which was wrapped around his head. The injured worker also suffered a broken jaw in three different places and was left with several of his teeth missing.

He hung suspended by his broken left arm for about an hour while some of his coworkers stood underneath him to provide support and others desperately scrambled to cut him loose. As the worker hung waiting to be freed, the pain became unbearable and he bled profusely, thinking he was going to die.

This accident left the industrial worker with multiple permanent injuries that remain to this day. He can no longer work at his previous job, and he is unable to participate in many of the activities that he used to enjoy. The permanent damage to his bones, muscles, and nerves in his arm have left it of little use to him, and the stress and anxiety of the injury has put a major strain on his marriage as well.

"This accident was absolutely tragic and senseless," says attorney Tim Bailey of Bailey, Javins, & Carter, LC. "The poor guy hung by his broken arm for an hour in excruciating pain and thinking that this was going to be the end for him. He was told by other lawyers that there was nothing that could be done, but after hearing what happened to him, we believed he deserved justice."

After a thorough investigation, BJC learned that the sleeve - which was given to the industrial worker as a piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) - was virtually untearable. The protective fibers in the sleeve are made to be used in industries where workers are exposed to cuts to their arms. The maker of the tear resistant fiber used in the sleeve made it clear that the fiber was not safe for use around rotational equipment. If the protective sleeve were to be entangled in the rotating equipment, rather than tearing away, it would actually pull the worker into the machine.

Despite this information from the maker of the tear resistant fiber, the defendant maker of the PPE sleeve marketed the PPE sleeve without warnings to industries where rotational equipment is routinely used. Instead of protecting the worker, the PPE sleeve actually made it more dangerous for him to do his job. The sleeve's tear resistant properties are what caused it to get caught up in the rotational machinery and the worker's left arm along with it.

"The product seller markets their sleeve to this industry and even to the worker's particular occupation on their website, and yet they did not provide any type of warning about the dangers that a tear resistant sleeve would pose," Bailey continues. "There were no warnings online, no manuals, no product literature, and no on-product warnings. No indication whatsoever that the product could be hazardous when working with rotational equipment."

Bailey, Javins, & Carter learned several other important facts, including:

The product seller had been marketing the sleeve to this specific industry for several years prior to the worker getting injured.
The employees for the product seller admitted that their knowledge of the sleeve's tear resistant properties was superior to that of the workers employer.
Although the product was marketed specifically to the industry in which the worker was employed, the seller did next to nothing to learn about this industry. They had never seen these types of workplaces firsthand or tested out the product; and in fact, they had never even reached out to anyone in the industry to discuss the product.
Although competing companies who sell similar products provide warnings not to use it around rotational equipment, the product seller in this case did not start providing such warnings or testing for tear resistance until BJC filed suit and confronted them with the warnings that should have been used all along.

"Product makers and sellers are required to provide adequate warnings to consumers about any foreseeable hazards that their product might cause. This is true whether we are talking about PPE that is created for industrial use or any other type of product. Any PPE that is sold must be fit for its intended use, and this of course means that it needs to be safe. But to be safe, manufacturers and sellers would need to know the hazards associated with their product, and this would require them understand the industries to which their products are being marketed. In this case, none of these things happened, and as a result, our client will never be able to live a normal life again."

Bailey, Javins, & Carter pursued a product liability claim against the seller of the tear resistant sleeve, and the seller recently agreed to pay a substantial seven figure amount to settle the lawsuit. This includes damages for medical costs, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, pain-and-suffering, mental anguish, diminished quality of life, loss of consortium, and permanent disfigurement.

For more information about Bailey, Javins, & Carter, LC, go to https://www.bjc4ga.com/

SOURCE Bailey Javins & Carter