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$425,000 Settlement for Food Production Worker in Conveyor Belt Accident
Jones v. Kossuth Fabricators, Inc. and Unnamed Engineering Design Firm
Case Summary:
Our client was a 38-year-old production worker injured when working near a conveyor belt in a pierogie plant. On the date of the accident, our client reached into the bypass conveyor belt, which was manufactured by defendant, while attempting to take the temperature of a passing pierogie and got her left index finger and middle finger pinched between the passing conveyor and the bypass conveyor. Our client suffered from fractures to both fingers and a degloving injury to the tissue of her left hand as a result of the accident.
The passing conveyor belt, designed by defendant Kossuth, and the bypass conveyor, designed by the unnamed defendant, were defective as designed because they did not comply with OSHA standards. The defendants failed to properly safeguard the equipment’s pinch point mechanics by failing to ensure that users could not get their hands stuck in the conveyor when an unexpected switch in production modes occurred.
Immediately following the accident, our client underwent a surgery which included the insertion of screws into her hand. Our client endured three more surgeries in the months that followed and missed a total of three months of work. Despite treatment, our client lost range of motion in her left hand.
Outcome:
This case settled for $425,000 before trial. The case was handled by Philadelphia products liability attorney, Richard M. Jurewicz, of Galfand Berger. For more information on this case, please contact Mr. Jurewicz at [email protected] or call the firm at 1-800-222-USWA (8792).