Our client, a commercial truck driver, was doing his job, making a delivery to a factory in Detroit. As he walked toward the office to turn in his paperwork, his life was changed by a negligent forklift operator. The operator, whose forward view was completely blocked by an overloaded stack of auto parts, ran over our client’s lower leg and severed his Achilles tendon.
The defense claimed it was an unavoidable accident. We proved it was a clear case of negligence. Our investigation went deep, using OSHA safety standards, industry-wide forklift operator manuals, and the company’s own internal training policies against them. We demonstrated multiple, flagrant safety violations. Our experts established that no reasonably trained operator would ever operate a forklift with zero forward visibility.
The injury required complex surgical repair and resulted in permanent physical limitations that impacted his career and life. In addition to securing all of his worker’s compensation benefits for lost wages and medical bills, we pursued a third-party liability claim against the negligent factory. After demonstrating our airtight case, the defendant’s insurance carrier paid $685,000 in compensation for his pain, suffering, and permanent impairment from this devastating construction/industrial accident.