As reported by Bloomberg Business Week, Caterpillar Inc. has paid out one of the largest product-liability awards – in excess of $9 million – to settle a lawsuit with a worker that was paralyzed from the waist down when a defective bulldozer lurched up and down unexpectedly at a construction site.
The man, A.L., claims to have suffered spinal injuries that caused him to become a paraplegic after the accident.
In January 2010 a Texas jury awarded A.L. with $56.3 million. The trial judge reduced the amount by more than half.
Anonymous sources, that aren’t allowed to disclose information about the settlement, claim that the case was on appeal when Caterpillar decided to settle.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond, Virginia, law professor that teaches product-liability law commented, “Caterpillar took the path of least resistance here, they didn’t want to spend the time and money appealing the verdict when they had no guarantees on what the outcome would be. The settlement provided certainty.”
The spokesman for Caterpillar, Jim Dugan, wrote in an e-mail on March 15, “The case was dismissed, and as such, we have nothing more to add.” Dugan declined to comment further on the accord.
Caterpillar officials argued in a San Antonio state court for the award to be decreased – and $32 million was cut from A.L.’s award.
Bloomberg states that the jury award was the ninth-largest made in 2010 for a product-liability verdict.
A.L. told the Texas court that he drove a Caterpillar Wheel Tractor 623 G Scraper while building a subdivision in northern Dallas in August of 2006 when the accident occurred. In court papers he claimed that the bulldozer “suddenly and without warning began dramatically bouncing up and down.”
The sudden movement caused the bulldozer’s seat to fail and A.L. was then slammed against the frame of the Caterpillar.
A.L., 41, suffered both spinal injuries and a punctured lung, the former resulted in his paralysis from the waist down.
Lawyers for A.L. contend that Caterpillar Inc. was aware that there were defects in the tractors that could cause them to be erratic – but that the company had done little to address the problem.
Jurors ordered Holt Texas Ltd., the dealership that sold the scraper to A.L.’s employer, and Caterpillar, to pay $15.8 million for actual damages and another $40.5 million for punitive damages.
As Texas has a limit on punitive-damage awards – no more than twice economic damage awards plus $750,000 – the judge reduced the award to $24.4 million.
Claims against both Caterpillar and Holt were settled in 2010.
Peter Holt is the majority owner of the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs, as well as the chairman and chief executive officer of Holt Texas Ltd.
If you have been injured, whether on or off your job, in some type of vehicular accident, contact a personal injury lawyer to file a lawsuit. Monetary compensation is frequently awarded for both actual and punitive damages.