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Caterpillar seat breaks causing back injury to hard working Hardee County Man, Jury award more than 3 million
Posted on Apr 21, 2009
)AARON COOLEY vs. UNITED RENTALS, INC.
COUNTY/DOCKET #/JUDGE: Hardee / 25-2006CA-000429 / Marcus J. Ezelle
PLAINTIFF(S) ATTORNEY(S): Kevin Britt Woods and Thomas Harmon of Davis & Harmon, P.A., Tampa
DEFENDANT(S) ATTORNEY(S): Randy R. Dow and Kelly R. Reagan of Page, Mrachek, et al., W. Palm Beach
AGE/SEX/OCCUPATION OF PLAINTIFF: 51 / M / Heavy Equipment Operator
CAUSE OF INJURY: Worksite Accident/Motor Scraper/Seat Collapse. Plaintiff was operating a Caterpillar motor scraper owned by Defendant on October 9, 2002. Defendant rented this scraper to Plaintiff’s employer, Kimmins, in August 2002. Plaintiff alleged that the air suspension in the operator’s seat broke so that the seat collapsed while Plaintiff was operating the equipment.
NATURE OF INJURY: Percutaneous discectomy at L3-L4 and L4-L5; future surgery is recommended for L5-S1.
EXPERT WITNESSES:
PLAINTIFF'S:
Michael Shahnasarian, Ph.D., Vocational Rehabilitation, Tampa
Stephen E. Durham, Ph.D., Economist, Tampa
David Rosenbach, M.D., Radiology, St. Petersburg
DEFENDANT'S:
Richard M. Harding, Ph.D., Biomechanics, San Antonio, TX
Paul M. Deutsch, Ph.D., Vocational Rehabilitation, Oviedo
Paul Guthorn, Engineer, Signal Hill, CA
VERDICT: $3,105,854 for Plaintiff on July 11, 2008 ($47,854 - past medical expenses; $899,500 - future medical expenses; $143,500 - lost earnings; $365,000 - lost earning capacity; $300,000 - past pain and suffering; $1,350,000 - future pain and suffering).
EDITOR'S NOTE: Defendant offered $600,000; Plaintiff’s demand was $850,000. Plaintiff’s Motion for Fees and Costs is pending.
Mr Aaron Cooly appears to have been working hard on the Job when the seat to his caterpillar machine broke casing him to have to have back surgery. My guess the machine was out of warranty and had not been properly maintained by the company who rented it to Mr. Cooley's employer.
There was no doubt a battle of the experts in this case, but thank GOD the good guys came out ahead. The claimant got nearly 2 million dollars for suffering associated with his pain. Good Job plaintiff's counsel.
