The family of a man that was killed while working at the Al-Mubarak Air Base in Kuwait, has been awarded 6.65 million from the military contractor, CAV International, Inc., as the contractor's employee was found responsible for the man's death, as reported by the Daily Herald.
A jury in Cook County made the multi-million dollar award to P.B., the widow of American Airlines employee, J.B.
CAV International Inc. operated the base in Kuwait City. J.B. was working there on a special assignment when on October 9, 2009 an employee operating a mobile conveyer felt loader – who had his back turned to J.B. and was speaking and laughing with others – lowered a handrail that knocked J.B. from the conveyor and onto the tarmac 20 feet below.
According to the family's attorney, Timothy J. Cavanagh, J.B., 64, was known as the "go to guy." He favorite saying was "proper planning prevents poor performance."
Cavanagh commented, "(J.B) had no chance" at surviving the fall.
The family had originally sought answers to how J.B. died from United Airlines. However, neither the U.S. military or CAV international would respond to queries from the family for more information. Cavanagh said that he "wanted to get the (J.B.) family the answers they deserved."
CAV International claimed that the lawsuit was invalid as the injury occurred in Kuwait – and there are no laws in Kuwait in regards to wrongful death. However CAV did recognize that J.B. was a U.S. citizen employed by a U.S. company at the time he died.
Cavanagh said, "CAV fought us at every turn. Fortunately, we live in a country where we have laws to get access to what we needed…As our society becomes more global in nature, the rules of law still apply. When a U.S. company makes a mistake and harms an American, they're held accountable in a U.S. court."
CAV further contended that the suit could not be filed in the state of Illinois. Cavanagh successfully countered the argument by stating that CAV was subject to the laws in the U.S. as CAV had "earned tens of millions of dollars negotiating government contracts" in Illinois.
P.B. said that she was happy with the amount of effort made by United Airlines – they flew the family to Kuwait and then flew J.B.'s body home. P.B. also said that Cavanagh was dedicated in seeking justice in the case and "that kept us going."
Cavanagh said that CAV has never apologized to P.B. He felt that if the company had done the right thing the matter could have been settled without filing a lawsuit. P.B. commented, "(J.B.) was always about doing the right thing. He would like that justice was served."
If you have lost a loved one due to the fault of another party, on foreign soil or in the United States, do yourself a favor and contact a personal injury lawyer. You too may be due a monetary award for your losses.