Worker crushed by industrial equipment wins $24M settlement

A man who sustained extensive injuries after being crushed by a piece of equipment in an industrial accident will be compensated with a $24 million settlement after allegations of poor product design, according to his lawyer.

“While he was marking a completed steel coil, another employee mistakenly hit the wrong button on the control panel, causing an unguarded arm to pin Plaintiff against the steel coil,” explained a submission by attorney Kevin Carnie, Jr. of Simon Law.

The parties in the case were kept confidential.

In a follow up phone interview, Carnie indicated that the man barely survived being crushed between the huge coil and an arm of a “coil slitter” machine used to cut it. He suffered a fractured pelvis, vascular and neurological injuries. Now, mostly confined to a wheelchair, he has experienced sexual and urinary dysfunction and has to undergo dialysis due to kidney problems.

Carnie alleged dangers associated with the machine’s design, noting that it lacked safety measures like a pressure sensor or interlock to stop operation of the device when someone was in the danger area. He said the poor design extended to the control panel itself where nearly identical buttons sitting next to one another created confusion.

“When you have major consequences for pressing the wrong button, you have to distinguish between the two buttons in a better way,” he said.

He said that the defense argued that the large machine represented an improvement to real property under Illinois construction law’s Statute of Repose which limits claims to a ten-year window and thus would have barred any recovery.

Carnie, who contended that the machine was a product and not an improvement, said that a motion for summary judgement on the issue was under consideration by the judge when the settlement was reached between the parties. He noted that the issue was a difficult one to predict since some possible precedents existed.

“The case law is kind of all over the place on that,” he said.

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$24 million settlement

Product liability

Venue: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Case Number/Date: Confidential/Aug. 23, 2024

Caption: Confidential

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Kevin Carnie, Jr. and Patrick McPhail of Simon Law, (St. Louis)

Defendant’s Attorney: Confidential