Jury Awards $476,300 to Victim in Texas Product Liability Case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Houston, Texas, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 24, 2012 -- AAJ member Vuk Stevan Vujasinovic and Sean Cichowski, both of Houston-based firm Vujasinovic & Beckcom, P.L.L.C., served as counsel for 50-year-old machinist Andrew Clark after he suffered a herniated disk during an equipment training session. The case was mentioned in the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) “Case in Point” section on January 17, 2012.

In Clark v. Coldwater Mach. Co., a piece of machinery struck Andrew Clark in the face at a General Electric plant, causing his head to jerk backward and suffer a disk injury at C6-7. The injury restricted Clark’s range of motion and cost an estimated $19,300 in medical expenses. His physician, who has recommended spinal fusion, believes that the surgery will take the total amount of medical costs to $101,000.

Clark suffered a significant loss of income due to the injury. Prior to the incident, Clark regularly worked overtime, earning $50,000 more annually than he is able to earn now.

Coldwater Machine Co. was hired by General Electric to provide new equipment for their company. Coldwater representatives delivered the machinery and led a training session to teach employees how to use it, during which time a pneumatic slide on top of the machine hit Clark in the face.

The suit alleges that Coldwater Machine Co. failed to provide written warnings with the machinery, training sessions were conducted without any written safety information, and representatives failed to “red tag” the machines when they became aware of the potential malfunction.

The defense tried to convince the jury that the machine’s slide mechanism would not have malfunctioned if there had been oil in the machine—an oversight that Clark should have been aware of. Clark’s attorneys argued that the manufacturer should have provided written instructions, including the necessity of checking the oil levels before use.

A jury found on behalf of the plaintiff, awarding Clark approximately $476,300. Fault was apportioned 2 percent to Clark, 45 percent to General Electric and 53 percent to Coldwater, making Coldwater responsible for payment of the entire verdict under Texas defective product law as they were found to be over 50 percent liable for the injury.

After costs and interest were calculated, the total damages amounted to roughly $500,000.

For additional information, contact Houston personal injury law firm Vujasinovic & Beckcom toll-free at (877) 724-7800 or at http://www.vbattorneys.com/contact.cfm.

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