Confidential
Settlement – $1,371,240Facts
On Sept. 12, 1995, the plaintiff, a 50-year-old journeyman printer, was injured when his hand was trapped in a pinch point between a plate cylinder and a waterform roller on the defendant employer's printing press. He was attempting to "pick a hickie" (removing tiny foreign material) with a small piece of cardboard and his thumb. The defendant employer, who was bankrupt and uninusured at the time of trial, bought the 40-year-old press in 1994 from the defendant refurbisher in a disassembled state. The defendant employer and the defendant refurbisher reassembled the press, but failed to install a guard over the pinch point. The press was originally designed and sold with an interlocked guard over the pinch point, but without a full enclosure guard. In 1969, the press was modified by two other defendants, who removed the original interlocked guard in order to install a dampener. The press was transferred in this condition to three subsequent users, consecutively, over the next 25 years before it was disassembled. The plaintiff brought this action against the manuacturer, the modifiers, the three successive users, the refurpisher and the employer, based on product liability theories of recovery.
Specials in Evidence
$40,000 $50,000
Injuries
The plaintiff's right hand was crushed, resulting in amputation above the wrist.
Other Information
The settlement was reached before experts were elected, exactly three years after the case was filed.
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