Confidential
Settlement – $650,000Mediator
Court
San Bernardino Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Edward A. Stumpp
(Sedgwick LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
Ned Wolfe M.E.
(technical)
Mark A. Mandel
(medical)
Defendant
Scott Meek
(technical)
Charles S. Lane
(medical)
Alexander Samson
(technical)
R. Kevin Smith
(technical)
Dennis R. Malkasian
(medical)
Facts
On June 13, 1988, the plaintiff, a 44-year-old assistant helper, in an attempt to clear a paper jam, climbed on top of a running cardboard box fabricating machine manufactured by a non-party Italian company. The machine was distributed in the U.S. by the defendant distributor. While on top of the machine, the plaintiff lost his balance, fell to his left and his hand fell into a 2+-inch by 3-inch gap and was caught by the feed rollers running at 200 rpm. He was trapped in the machine for 90 minutes before he was freed by rescue workers. The plaintiff lost his arm below the elbow. The machine's original vacuum feeder table was replaced by one built and installed by the defendant installer. The original design provided for cardboard sheets to be stacked on a feed table and then fed through an aperture which ran the full width of the machine and into the machine for processing. The feed rollers were behind the 2+-inch high aperture. When the defendant installer installed its new vacuum table, it either maintained the vertical and horizontal gap of the original machine or increased it to 2+-inches by 3-inches. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendants based on product liability and negligence theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $1 million. The defendants made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $50,000.
Specials in Evidence
$119,130 $24,000 $260,000
Injuries
The plaintiff suffered a severe crush and degloving injury to the left upper extremity, with multiple comminuted fractures ultimately requiring a below-elbow amputation of the left arm. He underwent eight post-operative procedures to remove neuromas.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately eight years after the case was filed. A mediation was held on March 28, 1997 before Viggo Boserup of Boserup Mediation Group resulting in the reported settlement. The manufacturer's design engineer testified at a videotaped deposition (in Milan) that the aperture was only about 5/8-inch to +-inch high to prevent hand or foot access. The plaintiff claimed that contrary to the foregoing, the defendant installer produced photographs of the subject unmodified machine which revealed a vertical gap (and on other non-modified machines) as being far larger than 5/8-inch and large enough for hand access. The manufacturer's motion to quash summons for lack of personal jurisdiction was granted by the trial court and, after a three-year delay, was upheld by the Court of Appeal. The defendant distributor stood in the shoes of the manufacturer per Vandermark v. Ford (1964) 61 C.2d 256, 262. The plaintiff settled around the plaintiff's employer which permissibly self-insured and which claimed a lien of about $185,000. The plaintiff's employer then settled with the defendants for $20,000.
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