James King v. Pitman Manufacturing, Power Equipment Leasing Company and CICS-Chicago
James King v. Pitman Manufacturing, Power Equipment Leasing Company and CICS-Chicago
Type: Products liability
Practice Area: Product Liability
Location: Kane County, Illinois
Result: $3,550,000 settlement prior to trial
Strellis & Field, Chartered settles the first reported case against Pitman Manufacturing Company, Inc. for the defective design of the Pitman Polecat Derrick Digger Crane. The settlement in this case is believed to be one of the largest settlements in Kane County, Illinois for construction accidents causing traumatic brain injuries and was the largest reported settlement in Cook, DuPage, Will and Kane Counties for the second quarter of 2009.
On August 3, 2003, James King was working as a City of Aurora electrician in the process of installing a 50 foot aluminum light pole near the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois. James, an experienced crane operator, was working with his partner using the crane to hold the aluminum pole in place while connecting the electrical wiring at ground level so that the light could be functional when fastened to the base.
Unexpectedly, a roll pin in the downhaul device failed causing the 40 lb. cast iron device to fall approximately 25 feet striking James on the head. James sustained a skull fracture and brain hematoma requiring an emergency craniotomy performed by Rasmis Ghaly, M.D. at Provena.
A downhaul device is a part of a crane that keeps the cable taught when the crane is being used to perform lifting functions. The downhaul device designed for the Pitman Polecat was alleged to have been designed in an unreasonable manner. The two piece downhaul was designed to provide flexibility to the operator so that the cable of the crane need not be weaved through the hole of a downhaul (similar to threading a needle) any time it needed to be removed. However, those that designed the Pitman downhaul failed to account for the risks associated with the failure of the top roll pin that would create the risk of hinge pin dropping, with gravity’s aid, thus creating a falling downhaul device.
This is exactly what happened in this case. The hinge pin fell and the downhaul device split and landed on James’s head. Strellis & Field, Chartered retained the services of Dan Pacheco, engineer to render opinions concerning the unreasonably dangerous design of the subject downhaul device.
Jim is grateful to those that responded quickly to his accident, including all of his co-workers at the City of Aurora and his treating physicians and rehabilitation specialists. His recovery is an inspirational story. Jim’s prognosis at the time of his injury was grave, through hard work and rehabilitation Jim eventually was able to return back to work at the City of Aurora for a period of time. Jim currently suffers from the effects of the traumatic brain injury.
In addition to the recovery from Pitman Manufacturing the plaintiff recovered an additional $2,000,000 from Power Equipment Leasing Company, Inc. Power Equipment Leasing Company and CICS-Chicago were in charge of certifying, repairing and maintaining that crane. Seven months prior to James’s accident the Pitman Polecat underwent its annual certification. Cranes of this sort were required to be inspected annually to confirm that they complied with ANSI standards to ensure that they were safe for operation in the workplace.
Strellis & Field, Chartered alleged that the condition of the downhaul device was in a state of disrepair such that a reasonable inspection of the device would have discovered the condition thus preventing the crane and downhaul from being operated in the field.